Issue link: https://hi.iaq.net/i/191637
Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health 172 CLIMATE CHANGE, THE INDOOR ENVIRONMENT, AND HEALTH outbreaks and potentially increase the risk of exposure to pesticides and of associated health effects, particularly in vulnerable populations. Health Concerns Biologic monitoring in the United States indicates widespread exposure to organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides in the general population (National Exposure Research Library, 2005). Prospective cohort studies of mothers and newborns have documented considerable pesticide exposure during pregnancy in urban populations, with insecticides detected in air samples and in blood samples from women and newborns at delivery (Berkowitz et al., 2003; Whyatt et al., 2002, 2003). Those findings raised concern about potential health effects of residential exposure to pesticides. Many pesticides are developed to degrade quickly in outdoor environments but sequester in indoor environments in the absence of sunlight and rain. Pesticides can pass through the blood–brain barrier and penetrate the placenta. In addition, young children may receive greater exposure than adults because they eat, drink, and breathe more per unit of body weight (NRC, 1993). Children are also particularly vulnerable because they play in the dirt and on the floor (Fenske et al., 1990; Zwiener and Ginsburg, 1988). Numerous animal studies have demonstrated that in utero or early exposure to organophosphate pesticides affects neurodevelopment (Eskenazi et al., 1999). Fetuses and young children may be more susceptible to neurotoxic effects of pesticides and have lower than adult levels of enzymes that are needed to detoxify organophosphate pesticides (Furlong et al., 2006). An emerging literature provides evidence of neurobehavioural consequences of relatively small exposure to organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides in infants and children (Eskenazi et al., 2008). Recent studies have found that the levels of organophosphate pesticides in dwellings may be great enough to cause neurodevelopmental effects (Eskenazi et al., 2007; Perera et al., 2003). The increasing use of DDT to control malaria poses important questions about potential health effects. DDT is extremely persistent in the environment, so the potential association with indoor air quality is of concern. In a recent review of health effects associated with DDT exposure, a consensus group concluded that indoor residual spraying can result in substantial exposure to DDT and that DDT exposure may pose a risk to human populations (Eskenazi et al., 2009). There is a growing body of evidence that exposure to DDT and its breakdown product DDE may be associated with adverse health outcomes, such as breast cancer, diabetes, decreased semen quality, spontaneous abortion, and impaired neurodevelopment in children. However, few studies have measured body burdens of both DDE and DDT, and studies have rarely investigated the effects of DDT or DDE Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.