Long-term Health Effec ts of Pesticides 263
Damage to the immune system: Some pesticides weaken the immune system,
which protects the body from disease. When the immune system is weak from
poor nutrition, pesticides, or from illnesses like HIV, it is easier to get allergies
and infections and it is harder to heal from ordinary illnesses.
Reproductive health effects of pesticides
Pesticides have many of the same reproductive health effects as
other toxic chemicals (see page 325). They can harm people’s
ability to have babies, or for babies to grow up healthy.
Chemicals can enter a woman’s body and appear in her
breast milk later. There are so many pesticides in use all over
the world that even mothers who have never used pesticides
have some toxic chemicals in their breast milk.
Breast is best!
Even if you think your breast milk may have pesticides in it, the benefits of
breastfeeding are stronger than any possible harm from pesticides in breast milk.
Breast milk is the best food to help a baby grow healthy and strong.
Some effects of pesticides on reproductive health are:
Sterility: Many male farm workers around the world have
become unable to have children after they worked with certain
pesticides because they can no longer make sperm.
Birth defects: When a pregnant woman is exposed to
pesticides, the baby inside her is also exposed and can be
damaged. Being exposed to pesticides when pregnant does
not always mean the baby will have birth defects. But the
baby will have a higher risk of having birth defects, learning
difficulties, allergies, and other health problems.
(For more about birth defects, see page 324.)
Damage to hormone-producing glands:
Hormones control many of our
body activities, such as growth
and reproduction.
When pesticides damage the glands
that produce hormones, this can
cause problems with childbirth
and reproduction.
Even if a woman is exposed to
pesticides before she is pregnant,
she can have a miscarriage or the
baby may be born dead because of
the exposure.
Pesticides on clothing can affect anyone
who comes into contact with them.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012