Revisiting pesticide exposure and children's health: focus on China

Abstract

China is now becoming the largest consumer of pesticides worldwide. In recent years, there has been a heightened public awareness of pesticides and children's health in North America and around the world. Human epidemiological studies have examined the relationship of pesticide exposures with children's health such as neurodevelopment and cancer, and they reported less consistent results. With regard to this topic, however, China is still in the early stages of cross-sectional or case-control design, and few data have been available. Furthermore, we have discussed several important limitations such as study design, exposure measurement, and developmental assessment from current literature, which should be interpreted with caution. We also presented the vulnerability and source of children's exposure to pesticides.

Keywords: Children; China; Health; Organophosphate; Pesticide; Pyrethroid.