A California study out on June 23 found that pregnant women who lived near farms where pesticides are applied had a two-thirds higher risk of having children with autism.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that ranges in severity and has been on the rise in recent years. Health authorities say it now affects as many as one in 68 children in the US.
The latest research was based on data about commercial pesticide applications in California, combined with residential addresses of about 1,000 participants in a study of families with autistic children.
“What we saw were several classes of pesticides more commonly applied near residences of mothers whose children developed autism or had delayed cognitive or other skills,” said principal investigator Irva Hertz-Picciotto, vice chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences at University of California, Davis.
