Pesticides can cause various health problems if we have their continuous intake through food items that we consume. As these strong pesticides are sprayed on food crops to protect them from pests, food items become major pesticide carriers. Simply washing and cleaning your eatables would not eliminate all these pesticides. These harmful pesticides affect everybody, but children are the ones who are especially sensitive to these. Pesticides can bring about various health risks in children. That can be due to several reasons specific to them. Let us see why kids are especially prone to bear the harmful effects of killer pesticides.
The foremost reason of children being sensitive to pesticides is that their internal organs are still not matured and developed enough to handle the dangers of pesticides. If these pesticides attack their internal organs, they could suffer from certain medical conditions. In addition, children eat and drink more than adults do. Considering the comparative body weights, children become more prone to the side effects of pesticides when they intake more food and water. They receive additional exposure to the pesticides present in food and water.
Apart from the above, another reason that makes kids more sensitive to pesticides is their behavior. Yes, it is surprising but certain behaviors of children increase their exposure to pesticides. These behaviors include putting objects in their mouths and playing on ground and floor. When pesticides enter their bodies, these can also block the absorption of essential nutrients. If children’s bodies do not absorb these nutrients, there is going to be a definite deficiency of them. Such nutritional deficiencies may harm the children by affecting their normal and healthy growth.
In addition to the above reasons, the bodies of children whose excretory systems are not fully developed might be unable to remove these toxins or pesticides properly. During important human development phases, a child’s biological system can completely alter its operations if exposed to toxic pesticides. Thus, it is very essential to take care of the quality of food consumed by children. Government food authorities in every nation need to evaluate children’s exposure to harmful pesticides and take required precautions accordingly. They also need to evaluate the kinds of pesticides that are dangerous for kids to eliminate the usage of such pesticides.