6/3/2010 – Follow up to Study on ADHD and Pesticides
The co-author of a study associating pesticide metabolites with ADHD weighs in on media coverage of this report and encourages consumers to continue feeding their children healthy fresh fruits and vegetables
Dr. Marc Weisskopf
“Regarding our study that suggested a possible correlation between pesticides and ADHD in
children, we want to re-emphasize that this is preliminary work and more research needs to be
done. There are well-established health benefits to both adults and children from eating fresh
fruits and vegetables. We do not want to discourage parents from feeding their children fresh
fruits and vegetables and we’re pleased that consumers have so many choices with the
availability of both healthy and wholesome conventional and organic produce. Parents who
may be concerned about pesticides residues should follow the advice of FDA, which states that
you can reduce and often eliminate residues if they are present by washing under cold or warm
tap water, or consider organic produce. But, we would remind parents that they should wash all
produce whether it is grown organically or conventionally.”
