| Long-Term Neurobehavioral Health Effects of Methyl Parathion Exposure in Children in Mississippi and Ohio Perri Zeitz Ruckart,1 Kirsten Kakolewski,2 Frank J. Bove,1 and Wendy E. Kaye1 1Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch, Division of Health Studies, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; 2Midwest Research Institute, Kansas City, Missouri, USA Abstract
Methyl parathion (MP) , an organophosphate pesticide licensed only for agricultural uses, was sprayed illegally for pest control in Mississippi and Ohio residences. To evaluate the association between MP exposure and neurobehavioral development, we assessed children 6 years or younger at the time of the spraying and local comparison groups of unexposed children using the Pediatric Environmental Neurobehavioral Test Battery (PENTB) . The PENTB is composed of informant-based procedures (parent interview and questionnaires) and performance-based procedures (neurobehavioral tests for children 4 years or older) that evaluate cognitive, motor, sensory, and affect domains essential to neurobehavioral assessment. Children were classified as exposed or unexposed on the basis of urinary para-nitrophenol levels and environmental wipe samples for MP. Exposed children had more difficulties with tasks involving short-term memory and attention. Additionally, parents of exposed children reported that their children had more behavioral and motor skill problems than did parents of unexposed children. However, these effects were not consistently seen at both sites. There were no differences between exposed and unexposed children in tests for general intelligence, the integration of visual and motor skills, and multistep processing. Our findings suggest that MP might be associated with subtle changes to short-term memory and attention and contribute to problems with motor skills and some behaviors, but the results of the study are not conclusive. Key words: children's health, methyl parathion, neurobehavioral development, neurologic functioning, organophosphate pesticide. Environ Health Perspect 112:46-51 (2004) . doi:10.1289/ehp.6430 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 25 September 2003]
Address correspondence to P.Z. Ruckart, Division of Health Studies, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 1600 Clifton Rd., MS E-31, Atlanta, GA 30333 USA. Telephone: (404) 498-0573. Fax: (404) 498-0079. E-mail: afp4@cdc.gov The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 30 April 2003 ; accepted 24 September 2003.
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