It is now generally accepted that children are more exposed to pesticides than adults because of their behaviour and physiology. Children eat more food, drink more water and breathe more air per kilogram of body weight than adults. They have more skin area relative to body volume than an adult, and their skin may be more permeable to pesticides.
Infants and children tend to play for hours on the floor, grass and ground, often with little clothing on. They also tend to put dirty or dusty fingers, objects, or even soil into their mouths. It is in areas closest to the ground -in a child's "breathing zone" -where higher levels of sprayed or fogged pesticides are generally found.
In addition to being more exposed to pesticides, children are more vulnerable to their toxic effects. From conception to sexual maturity, children's bodies, brains, immune, nervous and reproductive systems are developing and certain combinations of toxic chemicals can interfere with this critical process. The detoxification systems in infants and children may still be immature or not yet functional, making their ability to fight off harmful effects of chemicals less effective than that of an adult’s.
When the young are exposed, health effects, which take time to develop, like cancer, have ample opportunity to show up. Children are exposed to many chemical pesticides from a wide range of sources. Pesticides enter the body in three main ways: by swallowing, by breathing and through the skin.
