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Exposure to pesticides impairs development of Theni children: study

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, APRIL 7. Children exposed to pesticides in Theni district have impaired developmental abilities, a multicentric Greenpeace study has concluded. While the study was done in six States, Theni was chosen in Tamil Nadu, as it was a cotton-growing area, where use of pesticide was high. Between April and December last — the cotton season — Greenpeace volunteers combed the villages of Rassingapuram, Silambai and Visuvaspuram, administering tests to children between four and five years and nine and 13 years.

"While the younger group was chosen as brain development is rapid in the pre-school age, the older group is significant, as impaired development impacts on school performance," said Kavitha Kuruganti, principal investigator.

K.A.Chandrasekar, director, SIRPI, local coordinator for the study, said Theni district was the second largest cotton-growing area in Tamil Nadu. "Cotton farmers in the area are using a dangerous cocktail of pesticides and our organisation has been studying the effect on children for quite some time now." Seventyfive children in the younger age group and 75 in the older group were tested, adopting a play approach. They participated one by one, with the researchers relying on verbal instructions alone, keeping the tone informal and friendly so that the children were at ease and performed naturally. As pesticides are potentially neuro-toxic chemicals, and therefore, disrupt the analytical and motor abilities, concentration and motor functions, tests were fashioned to map the capacity of the child in each of these areas. The tool designed for the study had been used earlier in a similar scientific study in Mexico, but this time adaptations were made to suit Indian conditions.

The results were compared and contrasted with that of another study conducted among the same number of children in Madurai who were not exposed to pesticides. For 4-5 years old children, 23 tests were conducted and the results indicated that those exposed to pesticides fared worse than the control group in Madurai in all tests. In the case of the older group, 20 tests were conducted and the children of Theni fared worse than those in Madurai in 19 of the tests.

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