Preconception, Prenatal Pesticide Exposure Linked to Low Apgar Scores

FRIDAY, March 20, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Preconception and prenatal exposures to pesticides are associated with increased odds of low Apgar scores, according to a study published online March 13 in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology.Audrey R. Yang, from the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and colleagues used pesticide use registry and birth certificate data from 2006 to 2020 to examine the relationship between preconception and prenatal exposures to carbamate, organophosphate, and pyrethroid pesticide classes and 25 individual active ingredients with neonatal health, assessed based on Apgar scores.The researchers observed associations for exposure to several pesticide active ingredients at any point during preconception and/or pregnancy with increased odds of low Apgar scores (adjusted odds ratios, 2.07, 3.50, 1.67, 1.39, and 1.49 for the carbamates carbaryl and formetanate hydrochloride, the organophosphates diazinon and and tribufos, and the pyrethroid cypermethrin). Across trimesters, the effect estimates were consistent. Positive associations were also seen for ethephon, phorate, and beta-cyfluthrin during preconception, methomyl during the first trimester, and esfenvalerate and fenpropathrin during the second trimester."Pesticides are designed to be toxic -- very often, the biological mechanisms that they act on are present not just in insects and weeds, but also in humans," senior author Melissa A. Furlong, Ph.D., also from the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, said in a statement. "They have demonstrable biological effects on human health."Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required).Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Preconception, Prenatal Pesticide Exposure Linked to Low Apgar Scores

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