Posted on 04/30/2016 10:49:49 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A new study suggests a connection between the two
A new study finds a correlation between the aerial spraying of pesticides to kill mosquitoes and an increased risk of developmental delays and autism among kids.
In the new findings, presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2016 meeting, researchers looked at the rates of autism and developmental delays from eight zip codes in a region of New York that is exposed to yearly airplane pesticide spraying to prevent mosquito-borne disease like eastern equine encephalitis virus. They compared those to the rates in 16 zip codes where the pesticide spraying doesn’t happen. (Other forms of pesticide spraying could still occur, like manual spreading.) They controlled for factors like poverty and gender variation across the zip codes.
The authors report that kids living in zip codes where the spraying was done each summer had around a 25% higher risk of an autism diagnosis or developmental problem compared to kids living in areas without the aerial spraying. “Several studies have previously reported links between pesticide and autism risk,” says Dr. Steve Hicks, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Penn State College of Medicine in an email to TIME. “Our data suggests the way in which pesticides are applied might play some role. Studies of pesticides in animal models show they can affect certain neurotransmitters in the brain, but their exact molecular effects on brain development are still being explored.”
The study only shows a correlation between the two and does not show that aerial pesticide spraying causes autism.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
When I was a 10 year old Navy junior on a Naval base, we kids would be outside on a summer evening playing hopscotch, jump rope, and other. The truck would come through spraying for mosquitoes. We’d run for home.
I am not buying it. Pesticides are always #1 on the greenies list of bad stuff. The ban on DDT is now responsible for deaths of countless millions of people in 3rd world countries. It is still the greatest pesticide ever conceived. It is truly is less toxic than aspirin to people yet it is the one of the most vilified compounds in history.
Many times, a correlation reflects some other factor that both parameters being measured have in common.
In this case, there is spraying to stop an encephalitis virus infected mosquito, and there seem to be increased rates of autism. It could be a statistical artifact, or it could be that catching encephalitis from a mosquito while pregnant increases the risk of autism. And the spraying is done in those areas where there is encephalitis, hence the statistical correlation.
A virus that causes encephalitis actually infects brain cells. When a virus infects cells, it changes them—they no longer function according to their original purpose. If those cells are brain cells, then they are destroyed. Such destruction during early development certainly could affect brain function for the rest of the person’s life.
There is SOMETHING causing all these neurodegenerative disorders in our children and elderly at unprecedented rates. One child in every preschool class of 25 has some brain disorder like ADHD or autism. This is not counting any of the sex / identity / reproductive brain disorders which may show up (body not matching gender of brain).
I have an image in my head of my dad walking around the yard with a sprayer of roundup in his hand. He died last month after seven years of suffering from Alzheimer’s. I would avoid pesticides as much as possible. They affect nervous systems of all animals.
On the other hand, local agencies are making decisions about what to spray, and often they are not competent to make these decisions.
Where can one buy a 55 gallon drum of DDT?
It has NOTHING to do with vaccines and I highly doubt that it has anything to do with pesticides either.
Nobody outside of those who had such children, even talked about it at all, until all of a sudden "celebrities" began having fits, because a few had autistic kids an d making really STUPID, unproven excuse as to WHY they were being "plagued" with such children.
Don’t know how old you are...and I hope you are well.
Myself...when the “mosquito truck” came by...we all jumped on our bicycles and chased it.
Today..I’m still alive. Tomorrow? Who knows?
First they blamed vaccinations, now they’re blaming pesticides? Next they’ll be blaming climate change.
Way more instances of kids screaming and running high fevers right after vaccines to blame it on pesticides that may or may not have been sprayed in the general area.
Stronger causality to vaccines than this.
This is an attempt to deflect off vaccinations as the cause.
Good chance that they spray more for this in urban areas where pop density is higher anyway, so density may account for higher rates of cases because more people live in these areas ie it could be a conclusion based on a bogus stat.
Maybe the chemicals they are using to replace the supposed “bad” DDT are worse than DDT....
But Libs never consider unintended consequences...
CDC nor DoH’s wouldn’t admit, but primary cause of autism is when pregnant mom, especially at first 4 months, would get flu or some sort of adult vaccination, mostly their baby are born with neurological problem.
Correlation does not mean causation
When I was young (mid-1960s) the spray truck, a big flatbed with a fog gun on the back, would come thru the apartment complex laying DDT on the mosquitos. My mother would make me come inside but I would watch out the (open) first-floor window as it passed. I still remember the smell 50 years later.
We didn’t have mosquitos, or malaria, or West Nile Virus, or Zika, or autism.
I wish I could figure it out. I have one 10 y.o. grandson with Autism and a 6 year old with severe behavioral issues. The middle one is completely fine. Doctors have checked back family history on both sides and came up with nothing. Thank God the 10 y.o. is doing pretty good. The 6 year old has temper tantrum outbreaks that are violent and he has to be medicated. The only thing I can think of with the 6 year old was the parents were told he may not live after delivery. We were blessed when he was born completely healthy. We are only now seeing these issues with him.I pray every day for my grandchildren. Please keep them in your prayers.
Not quite. When until 1970's it was merely just boyishness or kiddishness. You got to watch "medicating children" on Youtube, it's horrible. Giving any kind of psychotrophic medicine to children like Ritalin will certainly do more harm than than good, if your naughty grand kid is just little too naughty you can have them home schooled until they behave. Also too many wanna be school analysts easily would judge a little too naughty kid to have so called ADD or ADHD they consider it neurological disorder when until mid 1970 it was just kiddishness.
I had flew with guy from Tucson he's SFO-based senior captain (pilot) at a major airline, routinely he'd leave his family in Arizona, his two kids were home school til 7th grade, when they started to school their family doctor had them medicated, their mother also medicated, today his kids in their early 30's if they don't take follow up medicines they're bipolar neither kids even learn to fly like their dad and grandpa,so what's up with that?
BTW, James Holmes who's Aurora CO shooter started taking psychotrophic med from kid, and so with that Sandy Hook shooter, so what's up with that?
I remember in the early 60s on an AF base overseas them spraying the housing areas with DDT trucks several times a week. Heavy fog. I even got caught in it riding my bicycle more than once. I have yet to see a positive long term assessment of the ills of DDT vs use benefits against multiple insect borne diseases.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.