A new study showed that food allergies may be directly linked to those who have food allergies.
According to ABC News, researchers at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology used existing government data to see whether people with more dichlorophenols, a kind of chlorine in certain pesticides that are known to kill bacteria, in their urine were more likely to have food allergies.
"We wanted to see if there was an association between certain pesticides and food allergies, and we were specifically interested in dichlorophenols because those were the ones that had this antibacterial effect," said lead researcher Dr. Elina Jerschow. "When researchers have compared bacteria from the bowel in healthy kids versus bacteria in the bowel for kids that have lot of allergies, they've noticed a big difference."
"Our research shows that high levels of dichlorophenol-containing pesticides can possibly weaken food tolerance in some people, causing food allergy," said Jerschow, according to OMGlobe.com. "This chemical is commonly found in pesticides used by farmers and consumer insect and weed control products, as well as tap water."
The number of children and teens with food or digestive allergies in the U.S. increased 18 percent between 1997 and 2007, ABC News reported, which is about 3 million people under 18-years-old. Most of the food allergies come from eggs, fish, milk, peanuts, shellfish, soy, tree nuts, and wheat.
"While the study does not allow concluding that pesticides are responsible for the allergies, it certainly raises the possibility and justifies pursuing the kinds of studies that can help sort of if these pesticides are, indeed, the cause," said Dr. Kenneth Spaeth, who directs the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Center at North Shore University Hospital. He was not a researcher involved in the study, according to ABC News.
Spaeth also said that the findings coincide with evidence that pesticide exposure can damage the immune system, which could lead to an increase of allergies.
"Previous studies have shown that both food allergies and environmental pollution are increasing in the United States," said Dr. Jerschow, according to OMGlobe.com. "The results of our study suggest these two trends might be linked, and that increased use of pesticides and other chemicals is associated with a higher prevalence of food allergies."
The study concluded that while opting for bottled water instead of tap water might seem to be a way to reduce the risk for developing an allergy, such a change might not be successful.
