Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a chronic psychiatric disorder diagnosed in between 2 to 16% of school children. The symptoms include the inability to concentrate and the need to move.

 

Now, a new report suggests that ADHD in children may be linked to pesticide exposure. Almost all commercially grown fruit and vegetables are treated with pesticides and trace amounts of these chemicals are introduced into the human body when the food is consumed.

 

Researchers measured the quantity of pesticides in urine samples from 1139 children and found that those with higher levels of a certain pesticide byproduct were about twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD.

 

Organophosphate pesticides are designed to act on the nervous systems of the pests they are conceived to eliminate, but studies have found that they can have an effect on the brains of humans exposed to them. Maryse Bouchard, PhD, from the University of Montréal suggests that: “it seems plausible that exposure to organophosphates could be associated with ADHD-like symptoms.”

 

Dana Boyd Barr PhD, a professor of environmental and occupational health believes that it is hard to establish a direct cause-and-effect link between ADHD and pesticides. Yet she also states that: “There appears to be some relation between organophosphate pesticide exposure and the development of ADHD.”

 

This new study is yet another example of why the consumption of commerically grown produce needs to be limited as part of a Zen lifestyle. As much as possible, buy organic produce or grow your own.

 

 

Information for this article came from: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/17/pesticides.adhd/index.html?hpt=T2
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigberto/2402014949