This commentary is by Dr. Deborah Hirtz of Jericho, a pediatric neurologist; Dr. Barbara Frankowski of Jericho, a pediatrician and Dr. James Metz of Hinesburg, a pediatrician with a specialization in child abuse medicine.
It’s often said that our children are our most valuable resource, but too many times, we underestimate how fragile that resource is. As physicians who have dedicated our careers to children’s health, we recently spoke out in support of H.706, which seeks to blunt an emerging threat to our children: growing neonicotinoid pesticide pollution.
Neonicotinoids are neurotoxic insecticides that kill insects by attacking the parts of their nerves that respond to that nicotine.
As the most-used insecticides worldwide, neonicotinoids have been linked to the dramatic losses of bees and other pollinators, which has diminished production of fruits, nuts and vegetables. It’s estimated as causing diet-related health problems around the globe, such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke and cancer.
Nicotine harms our nervous system as well, and nowhere is the concern higher than with young children. That is because the developing brain is uniquely vulnerable to toxic chemicals, especially to neurotoxins. This is, in part, why pregnant women are advised not to smoke, and why for other chemicals, like lead and mercury, there is no safe level for children.
Unfortunately, whether an expecting mother smokes or not, the chances of exposure to neonicotinoids appears increasingly certain. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitoring conducted almost a decade ago detected neonicotinoids in the bodies of roughly half the U.S. population.
However, a 2017-20 study of pregnant women from across the country found neonicotinoids in more than 95% of participants, with levels rising over the course of the study. Additional research shows that the insecticide can pass easily through the placenta, meaning that where mothers are exposed, so are their infants in the womb.
While neonicotinoids are relatively new compared with older pesticides and toxins, the research we do have raises alarms. In the 840 neonicotinoid poisoning reports recorded by the Environmental Protection Agency in the past five years, symptoms show hallmark signs of neurotoxicity, including dizziness, nausea, vomiting, irregular heartbeat, and even seizures and death in severe cases. Reproductive effects implicating fertility, such as lower testosterone levels and poor sperm quality, have also been observed in adults.
But it is the research regarding children’s health that worries us the most. Studies of exposed communities link neonicotinoid exposures before birth with a host of harms, ranging from birth defects of the heart and brain to autism-like symptoms and reduced cognitive abilities. Controlled animal studies show similar results, connecting neonicotinoids to thinning of key areas of the brain in rats and birth defects and higher rates of stillbirth in white-tailed deer.
We know that today, many of us feel bombarded by toxic exposures, where avoiding harm can seem impossible. While we cannot prevent every threat, we do know that neonicotinoids appear to be an ever-growing one to our children’s health — and fortunately, one that Vermont is in a position to do something about.
H.706 takes a page from our neighbors to the West, implementing many of the neonicotinoid restrictions found in New York’s recently passed Birds and Bees Protection Act. These controls eliminate the largest sources of pollution, which extensive research shows provide no benefits to users and can be otherwise easily replaced with safer alternatives.
While curbs on neonicotinoid use are nothing new in Europe or Canada — where use of the chemicals has been banned or significantly curtailed for years — the U.S. has lagged behind. That puts the onus on states such as Vermont to take matters into their own hands to protect their own health and environment.
There’s no time to waste. As we noted in our testimony to the Legislature, the “wait and see” approach with older toxic chemicals in the past led to permanent damage suffered by countless children.
Vermont’s leaders must not make the same mistake. Failure to put in place common sense steps to limit the neonic pollution that threatens our children is simply inexcusable. That’s why we urge Vermont’s leaders to enact H.706 into law as soon as possible.
