London, Aug 20 : Children whose mothers were exposed to pesticide during pregnancy were at a greater risk of having attention disorders as they grew up, suggests a study.

University of California researchers tested pregnant women for proof that pesticides had been absorbed by their bodies. They followed their children as they grew up. Women with more traces of pesticide in their urine during pregnancy had children with a higher risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, at age five, the researchers found, reports the Telegraph. The symptoms of ADHD are scattered attention or inattentiveness, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity. “While results of this study are not conclusive, our findings suggest that prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides may affect young children’s attention,” said Amy marks, of University of California. Organophosphates attack the nervous systems of insects by affecting message-carrying chemicals, which also play a role in human brain development. Researchers questioned the mothers and also gave the children standardised tests, according to the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. They looked for breakdown products or metabolites from pesticides in urine samples from the mothers during pregnancy and from their children as they grew. Few symptoms showed up at age three, but by age five the trend was significant, marks and colleagues found. A 10-fold increase in pesticide in the mother’s urine correlated to a fivefold increase in the chances of ADHD symptoms by age of five, with the trend stronger in boys. “I would recommend thoroughly washing fruits and vegetables before eating them, especially if you’re pregnant,” said Brenda Eskenazi, study co-author.