A new UC Berkeley paper reveals that children exposed to pesticides may have breathing problems later in life. The study linked the levels of organophosphate pesticide metabolites in the urine of 279 children living in California with decreased lung function. Berkeley.edu reports: Each tenfold increase in concentrations of organophosphate metabolites was associated with a 159-milliliter decrease in lung function, or about 8 percent less air, on average, when blowing out a candle. The magnitude of this decrease is similar to a child’s secondhand smoke exposure from his or her mother. The findings, published today in the journal Thorax, are the first to link chronic, low-level exposures to organophosphate pesticides – chemicals that target the nervous system – to lung health for children. “Researchers have described breathing problems in agricultural workers who are exposed to these pesticides, but these new findings are about children who live in an agricultural area where the organophosphates are being used,” said study senior author Brenda Eskenazi, a professor of epidemiology and of maternal and child health. “This is the first evidence suggesting that children exposed to organophosphates have poorer lung function.” The children were part of the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS), [...]