Usage of pyrethroid insecticides has increased dramatically over the past decade; however, data on their potential health effects, particularly on children, are limited. The researchers examined the cross-sectional association between postnatal pyrethroid exposure and parental report of learning disability (LD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children 6-15 years of age.

Pesticide exposure may be positively associated with depression. Few previous studies have considered the episodic nature of depression or examined individual pesticides. The researchers evaluated associations between pesticide exposure and depression among male
private pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study.

The researchers linked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Air Toxics tract-level data with the Nurses’ Health Study, a prospective cohort of female nurses. Over the course of 18 years of follow-up from 1990 through 2008, they identified 425 incident cases of PD. The researchers examined the association of risk of PD with the following metals that were part of the first U.S. EPA collections in 1990, 1996, and 1999: arsenic, antimony, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, mercury, and nickel.

There is evidence of declining trends in T levels among men in recent decades, as well as trends in related conditions at multiple life stages and in both sexes. There is also animal and limited human evidence that exposure to phthalates, chemicals found in plastics and personal care products, is associated with reduced androgen levels and associated disorders.