According to a new study, children who are exposed to home-based pesticides are more prone to have childhood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma.
The study was conducted by examining 16 previous studies of children who were exposed to pesticides. They were categorized according to those who acquired leukemia or lymphoma after the exposure and those who did not.
The results show that those children who had been unprotected to pesticides at home were 43 percent more susceptible to be detected with lymphoma during their adolescence. On the other hand, 47 percent of the subjects were more inclined to have childhood leukemia when exposed to the indoor chemicals.
Chensheng Lu, the lead author of the study, pointed out the increasing cases of childhood cancers in the U.S.
"Childhood cancers are increasing year by year in this country, (and) there is disagreement about what is contributing to that, but pesticides have always been on the radar," said by the associate professor of environmental exposure biology at the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health.
In the U.S, leukemia and lymphoma are one of the common kinds of childhood cancers affecting American children.
The associate professor added that pesticides exposure is also linked to other types of cancers and are not only restricted to leukemia and lymphoma.
Cancers of prostate and bladder are one of the additional diseases connected to chemical exposure. The researchers said though that additional study has not yet been fully realized due to some difficulties like its longevity to develop into a person's body. They added that if the other cancers will be manifested to the children, it will likely be displayed during their adulthood.
Furthermore, Chensheng pointed out to Live Science that is it the responsibility of the parents to make sure that their children are not exposed to indoor pesticides. The use of the said chemicals must also be kept away from children's area and playground in order to prevent them from the risks.
The result of the research is now published in the journal Pediatrics.
