Children residing in a region of New York State that uses aerial pesticides to maintain mosquitoes have an increased risk for autism in comparison to children living outside the area, according to a new study.
In the recent study, presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2016 meeting, the researchers reviewed autism rates and developmental delays from eight zip codes in a region of New York that are subjected to airplane pesticide spraying to thwart mosquito-borne diseases. The team then compared these autism rates to those in 16 zip codes where pesticide spraying does not occur. The researchers took into account other background variables, including poverty and gender differences.
The authors of the study found children living in zip codes that were sprayed each summer had about a 25 percent higher risk of an autism diagnosis or developmental problem than children living in areas that were not sprayed.
