Pesticide Exposure in Children

COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

doi:10.1542/peds.2012-2757

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Variable outcomes in the exposure to pestcides
Heikki Savolainen

Published on: 10 December 2012
Pediatricians are key to reducing children's pesticide exposures
Rachel Rosenberg

Published on: 29 November 2012

Published on: (10 December 2012)

Variable outcomes in the exposure to pestcides
Heikki Savolainen, Professor
Dear Editor,
The statement express justified concerns and its conclusions are commendable. However, a pediatrician would benefit of a more stratified presentation of the toxicological mechanisms so as to be able to give advice in individual cases.
Often, the prognosis must remain unknown in the absence of exposure data analyzed with up-to-date chemical methods. History, only, is a poor substitute. Thi...
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Dear Editor,
The statement express justified concerns and its conclusions are commendable. However, a pediatrician would benefit of a more stratified presentation of the toxicological mechanisms so as to be able to give advice in individual cases.
Often, the prognosis must remain unknown in the absence of exposure data analyzed with up-to-date chemical methods. History, only, is a poor substitute. This would necessitate an important expansion of analytical services. The costs are mostly not modest and one wonders whether the insurance policies would cover those systematically.
This, of course, does not invalidate the policy but it may mean that it is not easy to apply it in the case of chronic risks.
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.
Published on: (29 November 2012)

Pediatricians are key to reducing children's pesticide exposures
Rachel Rosenberg, Executive Director
Safer Pest Control Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing pesticide use, is thrilled that the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued this report. It is essential to ramp up education in order to reduce pesticide exposure to children and pregnant women.
We work hard to educate and train health care providers but have been challenged for a number of reasons. The first is that without guidance f...
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Safer Pest Control Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing pesticide use, is thrilled that the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued this report. It is essential to ramp up education in order to reduce pesticide exposure to children and pregnant women.
We work hard to educate and train health care providers but have been challenged for a number of reasons. The first is that without guidance from trusted sources like the APA, our message gets easily forgotten. In addition, general education on this issue is lacking in medical training. The premise that long term and low dose effects of pesticides are dangerous in not a primary teaching point.
Your recommendations are excellent and long term. In the short term, doctors can affect real behavioral change by simply discussing with patients their use of pesticides. Assessing current unnecessary pesticide use and exposure with questions such as 'do you have a pest control contract for your home' or 'do you use pesticides on your lawns' can illuminate the amount of household exposure. Doctors can then immediately follow up with suggestions on how to find alternative but equally effective IPM methods.
Another significant obstacle is getting patients to understand that pesticides are poisons. Most people don't make the connection to human health and the environment. The ubiquitous nature of the products bely their toxicity.
I encourage your members to utilize a number of resources such as our website at spcpweb.org or panna.org.
Thank you,
Rachel Rosenberg Executive Director Safer Pest Control Project
Conflict of Interest:
I am Executive Director of a nonprofit dedicated to reducing the use of pesticides.
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Competing Interests: None declared.