Prenatal exposure to organophosphate insecticides at the levels most Americans encounter was not associated with autism related traits in children, according to a federally funded study of 3,339 mother-child pairs published in JAMA Pediatrics.
That qualifier about the exposure level is the load-bearing part of the finding, and it should not be trimmed. The study measured ordinary, largely dietary exposure, the kind that comes from eating fresh produce. It does not address the far higher exposures faced by agricultural workers, pesticide applicators, or families living immediately beside treated fields.
