Food pesticides causing rise in C-sections, lower birth weight: KGMU study

LUCKNOW: The presence of pesticides in our food and the environment not only disrupts our hormones and brings about developmental changes in our growing years but also starts affecting children even before they are born, a pioneering study by the biochemistry department of King George’s Medical University has found.

The study, which has featured in a high impact environmental research journal, has also found correlation between lower birth weight, cesarean deliveries in preterm births and the level of pesticide toxicity.

The study included research on pregnant mothers and cord blood samples of 221 healthy pairs from Queen Mary’s hospital and deduced a correlation between transplacental transfer of pesticides resulting into chemical alterations and pregnancy outcome in non-occupational women.

According to Prof Abbas Ali Mahdi, the author of the study, indiscriminate use of pesticides has been found to be a factor in low birth weight in newborns, preterm deliveries and also with an increase rate of complications due to the cell damage, leading to a higher rate of cesarean deliveries.

Moreover, pesticides can disturb hormonal balance in women by decreasing the hormone progesterone and alter antioxidant defence mechanisms during normal uncomplicated pregnancies which can also steer to preterm birth, said Prof Mahdi, the head of the biochemistry department.

“This is a pioneering study where we have looked at both the cause and effect of pesticides on pregnant women, unborn children and their health and development after birth. The process of study through cord blood samples of the foetus and the maternal blood in such a high sample size is also a distinctive factor,” said Prof Mahdi.

“India has banned several pesticides but there is still an indiscriminate use of pesticides on our food and agricultural produce which then percolate into our environment too. So since the time of conception, the foetus starts to get the toxic elements of pesticides leading to biochemical changes, DNA changes, cell damage and genetic changes as well,” he added.

The study does not capture pregnant women living by the fields or factories but non-occupational women who are urban residents of northern India, pointing to the widespread presence of pesticides causing us more harm than good.

“This could also be the reason for unexplainable widespread incidence of chronic diseases like cancer, birth defects, reproductive disorders, neurodegenerative, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, developmental disorders, metabolic disorders including diabetes, chronic renal disorders, liver disorders or autoimmune diseases.

These markers found in our study can be used for early detection of pesticide related ailments and toxicities,” he said.