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Babies exposed to certain pesticides while in the womb are more likely to develop rare eye cancer –

According to one study, fetuses exposed to pesticides commonly used on citrus and apple trees are up to 87% more likely to develop a rare type of eye cancer.

Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles compared the use of nearly five dozen agrochemicals near the homes of 335 children under the age of five who developed retinoblastoma with healthy children from the same state.

They found four chemicals that revealed that children are more likely to develop cancer, which can permanently impair their eyesight, cause reading and writing problems, or cause blindness.

One of them – acefat – is already banned in Europe. Others — which should not be used near homes — were bromacil, pymetrozine, and kresoxim-methyl.

The scientists behind the study warned that pesticides are particularly dangerous for children as their organs are still forming and increase their risk of destroying DNA or inflaming cancer-causing cells.

They urged farmers to be more conscious of the chemicals they spray on their fields and urged the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to tighten regulations on pesticide use.

Study found that exposure to four chemicals used as pesticides can increase the risk of retinoblastoma, or a rare type of eye cancer (stock image)

The American Cancer Society (ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROME) says that retinoblastomas, a type of eye cancer, can affect one or both eyes and begin when cells begin to grow out of control due to a genetic mutation.

Most likely, symptoms in children under the age of three will be a white or pink pupil, a lazy eye, or the first signs of vision problems.

Patients are offered radiation therapy or laser therapy and, in some cases, chemotherapy to kill cancer cells.

But this can leave young people with lifelong vision problems and blindness and increase the risk of a second cancer later in life.

WHAT IS retinoblastoma?

Retinoblastoma is a rare type of eye cancer that can affect young children, usually under the age of 5.

Symptoms include an unusual white reflex in the pupil, squint, red or inflamed eye, and poor vision.

Retinoblastoma occurs when retinal eye cells, which are believed to grow too fast and then stop growing during the baby’s early development, continue to grow and form cancer.

depending on the size of the tumor. If it is small, laser and freezing treatments are performed to destroy the tumor.

If older, younger people may undergo surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.

Some children may lose their eyesight or have their eyes removed.

Between 40 and 50 cases of retinoblastoma are diagnosed each year in the UK.

The figure is equal to one in 15,000 to 20,000 newborns.

About four out of ten cases are diagnosed in the first year of life, and the incidence drops to a very low rate after five years.

About two-thirds of retinoblastomas are diagnosed in just one eye.

Nine out of ten cases are diagnosed early and treated before the cancer has spread beyond the eyeball.

Source: NHS, Children with Cancer in England

In their study, published last month in the International Journal of Environmental Hygiene and Health, scientists scoured California cancer registries.

They removed all cases of retinoblastoma in children under the age of 5 from 1998 to 2013, nearly a decade after registration began.

They then collected the addresses of these cases, as well as the addresses of 120,000 healthy babies born in the state during the same time period. The latter were randomly collected.

The scientists then collected reports of pesticide use where pesticides were used in the months leading up to the birth of the children in their homes.

California has required that all agricultural pesticide use be centrally reported since 1990.

The results showed that children with cancer were more likely to be exposed to four specific pesticides than healthy teenagers.

Those exposed to bromacil, which is often used for citrus crops and weeding, were 87 percent more likely to develop unilateral retinoblastoma or cancer of the eye alone.

Acephate, which is also used in citrus trees, increased the risk of this species by 70%.

But children exposed to cresoxim-methyl, which is used to fight a fungus in apples, were 60 percent more likely to develop all types of retinoblastoma, while those exposed to pymetrozine, which kills aphids and whiteflies, were 45 percent more likely to develop in fields.

The scientists did not examine which pesticide concentrations had a greater association with cancer.

No association was suggested for the other 54 chemical pesticides included in the study.

Lead author, an epidemiologist, Dr. Shiraya Thompson urged farmers to be more aware of the potential health risks of the pesticides they use.

He also urged the EPA to consider limiting the use of harmful chemicals to reduce cancer risk.

“You may have little control over what goes on in the wheat fields near you,” he said.

“And you may not even know what the farmers near you are preparing.”

This study was observational, meaning it could not determine whether the chemicals were causing cancer. It was due to another factor.

But scientists have warned for years that exposure to pesticides increases the risk of cancer in humans.

Scientists are not yet clear on the cause of retinoblastomas, but ACS says exposure to chemicals and radiation can increase the risk. Having mothers who eat little fruit and vegetables can increase the risk of cancer.

Expectant mothers may have been exposed to chemicals, either by runoff from farms or by work.

Statistics show that about six to ten percent of rural residents in the state work in the agricultural sector.

Source: Daily Mail

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