Two Chemicals Sprayed on Crops Are Affecting Children’s Brainpower, US Research

San Diego: A study by American experts has warned that two chemicals sprayed on crops can cause problems in learning and memory and social skills in children.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego in the US used urine samples and test performance scores from teenagers to find a link between the crop chemical glyphosate and 2,4D’s impaired brain function.

The researchers measured the amount of both chemicals (glyphosate and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 2,4D) in urine samples. The samples were collected in 2016 from 519 children aged 11 to 17 years from Pedro Moncayo, an agricultural region in the South American country of Ecuador. Glyphosate was found in 98 percent of the 519 samples obtained for research.

According to the senior author of the study, Dr. Jose Ricardo Suarez, the release of neurotoxic pollutants into the environment may be the cause of this increase in diseases.

Glyphosate is the most widely used crop chemical in the US, and both of these drugs (also known as herbicides) inhibit the growth of unwanted weeds in the fields to increase crop yields.

These chemicals can enter people’s bodies through potentially contaminated food or water and are believed to affect pathways in the brain related to memory and learning.

In a previous study by researchers, glyphosate was found in 90 percent of products made from wheat. The past two decades have seen an increase in chronic diseases and mental health problems among young people worldwide.