Pesticides and children's IQ

A relatively common household insecticide could have an impact on children's cognition. Researchers from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health studied 725 pregnant women assessing them for exposure to a compound used in insecticides called piperonyl butoxide (PBO) and then evaluated them for exposure their children's cognitive and motor development at the age of three. The children who were more exposed to the insecticide scored 3.9 points lower on the Bayley Mental Development Index than those with lower exposures - about the same change found in cases of lead exposure.