Description
The impact of trace environmental chemicals on the human body, manifesting as sick-building or sick-house syndrome, has recently attracted social attention. The newly coined term for the diseases caused by trace environmental chemicals, “chemical sensitivity,” currently used in modern society, may be truly secure. In particular, the impact of pesticides, which are used throughout the world, is becoming a significant problem. For example, the incidence of sexual maldevelopment and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among children in the United States due to food contamination by toxic organophosphorous (OP) pesticides is becoming a major concern. Furthermore, in Brazil, hearing disorders caused by OP pesticides, discussed later, is another major problem. Among children in the farm area in Saku City, Japan, neurotoxicity, especially in the eyes, is an important concern reported as early as 1970–1980. After malathion was banned about nine years later and replaced with vamidothion, the symptoms ceased. Therefore, we concluded that the aforementioned diseases were caused by the OP pesticide malathion sprayed by the helicopters.
Serious neurological problems were also possibly induced by another OP pesticide, chlorpyriphos. Home use of chlorpyrifos was restricted in the United States in 2000, but it is widely used in agriculture, and is a serious risk to health and mental performance for people working and living in proximity to fields where it is used.
The mental impairment and birth defects caused by pesticides are autism and ADHD in 1987. Autism is observed in 1 out of 80 newborn babies in the United States and in 1 out of 50 newborn babies in Britain. Three cohort studies in the United States are tracking the long-term consequences of pesticide exposure on the developing brain during pregnancy and the early years of life. These studies have reported concerning results such as IQ deficits and ADHD-like behavioral problems.
Hearing loss caused by pesticides is an especially significant public health issue in Brazil. Pesticide sales skyrocketed from 2001 to 2008, making Brazil the world’s leading consumer of poisons. A recent study aimed to assess whether pesticide exposure causes peripheral or central auditory disorders and thus focused on the importance of hearing tests in populations with acute or chronic exposure. I have previously reported the usage of OP pesticides in large amounts in Brazil.
The purpose of this book will be apparent from the ensuing discussion of the countless numbers of trace chemicals currently used for the convenience of presentday life that affect the human body.
Satoshi Ishikawa