New York City residents have higher pesticide exposure than the U.S. average

New York City residents are more highly exposed to two types of widely used pesticides than the U.S. average, according to a new study. The findings “underscore the importance of considering pest and pesticide burdens in cities when formulating pesticide use regulations,” the researchers from the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene wrote in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Organophosphate metabolites were measured in the urine of 882 New Yorkers, while 1,452 residents were tested for pyrethroid metabolites. Some organophosphates have been banned in the United States in recent years, although many are still heavily used in agriculture. Pyrethroids are used indoors and outdoors in sprays and bug bombs to kill fleas, mosquitoes and other pests. Among New Yorkers who were 20 to 59 years old in 2004, the highest exposed group had between two and six times more organophosphates in their urine than the highest exposed group in a national study. They also had between 1.7 and 2.4 times more pyrethroids than the nationwide group. In previous studies in New York City and in a California farm area, prenatal exposure to organophosphates has been associated with reduced mental skills in children.

Source: Environmental Health News, October 2, 2013
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/2013/10/nyc-pesti…