A broad-based evaluation of pesticide-exposed children.

Research tends to center on the individual exposed to endocrine disruptors, frequently using a disease centered medical model for evaluative purposes. Pesticides, like many other contaminants, disrupt the endocrine system. A normative growth and developmental model was used to evaluate four- and five-year-old Mexican children living in agricultural areas relying on the use of pesticides and compared the children to those living in a non-agricultural community. The purpose was to determine if the children of any given community were at risk from exposure, in contrast to identifying specific children with multiple deficits. Anthropological methods were adapted to provide a rapid community assessment approach. Living conditions, social and cultural conditions and genetics were similar in all groups studied. Growth, in terms of height and weight were alike for children in both areas. Differences existed in developmental skills, as measured through play behaviors. Neuro-muscular deficits, in terms of coordination and stamina, were found with the children in the agricultural communities. The heavier exposed children also exhibited neuro-mental deficits, as measured through the use of drawing and memory problems. No child excelled or performed poorly on all activities. One important outcome of the study was that behavior standards designed for American children did not always apply to these children due to different expectations placed on the child. Future research needs to examine if other endocrine disrupting compounds create similar developmental deficits.

Examining childhood development in contaminated urban settings.

Normal childhood development and growth is affected by such factors as genetics, nutrition, and multiple familial and social factors. In large urban settings, children are constantly exposed to varying amounts of assorted toxic chemicals both inside and outside the home. Many of these contaminants are suspected to be associated with developmental alterations. The heterogeneity of risk factors in urban populations poses a challenging situation for research. Change must be made in the manner in which developmental toxicological research is undertaken. Plans should be made for immediate data collection after a large-scale exposure to prevent the loss of valuable information. Retrospective studies would benefit from applying rapid assessment techniques to identify high- and low-risk children. In all cases, the development of research design and investigative format needs to reflect the strengths of both social factors and scientific facts. Cross-disciplinary approaches, using physicians and physical and social scientists and incorporating community knowledge, are required for the evaluation of children in urban settings, with each discipline contributing to theory and methodology.

An anthropological approach to the evaluation of preschool children exposed to pesticides in Mexico.

In this comparative study, we compensated for many of the known variables that influence children's growth and development by selecting two groups of 4-5-year-old Yaqui children who reside in the Yaqui Valley of northwestern Mexico. These children share similar genetic backgrounds, diets, water mineral contents, cultural patterns, and social behaviors. The major difference was their exposure to pesticides. Pesticides have been applied to the agricultural area of the valley since the late 1940s. In 1990, high levels of multiple pesticides were found in the cord blood of newborns and in breast milk. Building on anthropological methods for rapid rural appraisal of problems within the environment, a Rapid Assessment Tool for Preschool Children (RATPC) was developed to measure growth and development. The children of the agrarian region were compared to children living in the foothills, where pesticide use is avoided. The RATPC measured varied aspects of physical growth and abilities to perform, or function in, normal childhood activities. No differences were found in growth patterns. Functionally, the exposed children demonstrated decreases in stamina, gross and fine eye-hand coordination, 30-minute memory, and the ability to draw a person. The RATPC also pointed out areas in which more in-depth research on the toxicology of pesticides would be valuable.

Environmental contaminants and reproductive abnormalities in wildlife: implications for public health?

At the onset of the industrial age, environmental contaminants began to pose a major threat to the health of wildlife. That threat appears to continue today. In the last three decades, the focus of our concern on the health consequences of environmental pollution has been on lethal, carcinogenic, and/or extreme teratogenic manifestations. Evidence from a number of sources suggests that another mechanism, endocrine-disruption, also must be examined. There is excellent laboratory and field evidence that man-made chemicals (xenochemicals) released into the environment act as hormones or antihormones. They act as endocrine-disrupting contaminants (EDCs). The release of EDCs occurred in the past and continues today. The development of the reproductive system is vulnerable to perturbation by EDCs. Wildlife studies demonstrate that both sexes are affected and experience modifications of gonadal and reproductive tract development or functioning and abnormal synthesis or metabolism of hormones. A number of abnormalities seen in the reproductive system of various wildlife species correlate with similar abnormalities described as rising in human populations. We suggest that wildlife are excellent sentinels of ecosystem health. Data from these wildlife studies present models and methodologies for examining human health.

Socio-economic change and cultural continuity in the lives of the older Tswana.

The rural villages of Botswana have a disproportionate number of children and aged resulting from out-migration of able-bodied adults for wage employment. The social position of the rural based aged people, as perceived by urbanites and villagers, was determined through ethnographic interviews and participant observation. The traditional elder contributory roles of childcare and agriculture for women and political and pastoral involvement by men have been modified, still allowing the active old to participate in community life as elders. Social old age occurs when dependency created by physical limitations outweighs contributions possible with body mobility. Minimal economic support provided by adult children to aged parents has been substituted for the fuller traditional expression of filial piety. Grandchildren provide physical care. Low incomes, inexperience with the large numbers of aged and consequent lack of behavioral norms place social emphasis on the economic dependency of old people rather than on the social and service needs as perceived by the socially old individuals, themselves.