Eating foods grown with pesticides is increasingly recognized for impacts on both the consumer and the environment. New research suggests that even growing up on farms that use pesticides may have long-term consequences.

The study sampled nearly 26,000 women who grew up on farms in Iowa and North Carolina. Typically, living on a farm has been thought to bestow health benefits. Women from farms did have a lower overall incidence of diagnosed asthma. However, of these farm women, those that came from conventional farms had a greater rate of atopic asthma compared to those from pesticide-free farms. Atopic, or allergic, asthma has become increasingly common since the 1960s; it is caused by exposure to airborne allergens.

Specific pesticides were implicated in the cases of atopic asthma. These included 2,4-D, carbaryl, DDT, malathion, and permethrin, among others. The herbicide 2,4-D is used on various agricultural crops, as well as on domestic lawns, turf, forests, and elsewhere. Farms growing spring wheat, filberts, sugarcane, barley, apples, and other crops use this chemical extensively. Use of DDT has been banned in the US since 1972. Malathion is an organophosphate insecticide used widely in agriculture, as well as for household plants, treatment of head lice, and mosquito and medfly control. Berries, limes, cotton, garlic, and greens are often treated with this compound. Permethrin is a pyrethroid pesticide used for agricultural and other uses; brussel sprouts, celery, greens, and nuts are frequently treated.

Carbaryl is a controversial insecticide, and the US Environmental Protection Agency has recently revised limits on its use. Of particular concern is carbaryl’s greater effects on young children and the presence of residues on strawberries and other soft fruits. As with carbaryl, the use of malathion and permethrin is increasingly regulated by the US EPA due to impacts on young children, farm workers, and the environment.

One possible explanation for the finding in women raised on farms could be that the link to pesticides is harder to detect in non-farm residents - due to a larger asthmatic population. The authors of the study are careful to point out that the relationship between asthma and pesticide use is still unknown. Pesticides may not cause asthma, but there is a suggestion that they may exacerbate it, at the very least. However, there are plenty of other health issues that have been linked to pesticides and agricultural communities.

After all is said and done, this study suggests that the benefits of organic farming and produce extend to everyone - from farmers, their families and employees, to consumers and everyone else. It sure ups the ante on spending the extra money and going organic.