14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) ruled yesterday, December 17, that a series of pesticides linked to bee decline in previous investigations also play a role in impairing brain development in human fetuses, potentially leading to children whose brains are improperly formed.
According to a statement released by the authority, the maximum exposure limits for these chemicals should be lowered pending the results of a full investigation. The team behind the work says that these pesticides, commonly blamed for massive bee decline rates in Europe, harm the development of neural pathways and neurons linked to memory and learning.
The fact that these chemicals are neurotoxic was known when the maximum exposure limits for the general population were developed, but it would appear that scientists in charge of making the evaluation underestimated how the chemicals interact with the developing human brain in fetuses.
The pesticide class neonicotinoids holds both culprits, imidacloprid and acetamiprid. The chemicals are produced for the European market by Bayer Cropscience. A representative for the corporation said that the company was “surprised” by the EFSA decision to lower maximum exposure limits to these chemicals, The Guardian reports.