Pesticide Use Linked To Lower Intelligence In ND Farm Kids

[hatrack]

North Dakota farm children exposed to pesticides performed significantly lower than their peers in IQ tests, according to preliminary results of a study released Thursday.

Researchers at the University of North Dakota studied two groups of children in the northern Red River Valley, one group living on or near an active farm or field, another living at least a mile away from those locations. Children living on or near farms tested an average of five points lower on standard IQ tests, said Patricia Moulton, an experimental psychologist at UND.

EDIT

Children living on farms also had lower scores in verbal comprehension, visual perceptual reasoning, memory and mental processing speed, the study found. The study, funded by a branch of the National Institutes of Health, will go on to determine whether there is a correlation between the level of exposure to pesticides and performance on memory, intelligence and other mental functions.

“That’s just the raw IQ,” Moulton said of findings presented to the Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health. “We’re going to look at a dose-response relationship. We’re going to be able to associate the test scores with (pesticide) concentrations in the blood and urine.” Two earlier studies also found that children living in areas with active pesticide use had lower scores in mental performance tests, but those studies did not take into account level of exposure.

EDIT

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=121375§ion=News

[donsu]

1. yes - and not just farm kids

I've been trying to tell women this for yrs.

[shain from kane]

2. What about South Dakotan legislators? n/t

[donsu]

3. you have a point - in the age of toxins we need I.Q. test for politicians

if they can test our pee for a job, we can test their I.Q. for political jobs

[ladjf]

4. I am not joking when I say that I fear that some type of

environmental problem may be making Americans dumber. I'm not trying to be cute. How else can you explain the behavior of millions of Americans as they enthusiastically endorsed the man who stole their Country, their livelihood and their rights , a man who lies, cheats and plunders with no remorse and with intention of ever obeying the laws? Something is lowering the IQ in America. We need to find out what it is before we wipe out the rest of the world with our stupidity.