SynthesisPloS one2025
Pesticides and neurodevelopment of children in low and middle-income countries: A systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Pesticide Residues in Fruits: From Surveillance Data to Risk-Based Interpretation and Mitigation.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The Effects of a Parental Behavior Modification Program to Prevent Pesticide Exposure Among Toddlers Living in Agricultural Areas of Thailand: An Experimental Study.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2026Article
- Pesticides, an urgent challenge to global environmental health and planetary boundaries.Frontiers in toxicology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPesticides are increasingly common in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where weaker regulations and multiple risk factors for poor neurodevelopment exist. Due to biological and behavioral factors, children are vulnerable to chronic pesticide exposure at a time when brain development is critical. The objective of this study is to systematically review studies assessing pesticides use with child neurodevelopment in LMICs.
methodsUsing terms developed by a medical librarian, a search was performed in June 2023 across online databases, including OVID MEDLINE and EMBASE. For inclusion, studies required a measurement of pesticide exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes using a standardized tool and study participants ≤18 years within an LMIC, as determined by World Bank criteria. Descriptive analyses were performed using extracted data, including published outcomes of significance. Results were assessed for internal validity and reported by the method of exposure measurement (biomarkers or questionnaires/region of residence).
resultsA total of 31 studies spanning 11 LMICs met the inclusion criteria. An adverse association was found between pesticide exposure and at least one domain of neurodevelopment in 23 studies, including 12 studies with child-level measurements, 10 studies with maternal measurements in pregnancy, and one questionnaire-based study. Exposure to organochlorines, carbamates, chlorpyrifos, and fungicides were consistently associated with worse outcomes for neurodevelopment, specifically executive functioning, cognition, motor development, and behavior. Few studies found adverse associations with urine/serum organophosphate levels. Due to the heterogeneity of existing data, we were unable to quantify the relationship between pesticide exposure and neurodevelopment.
conclusionsWhile studies suggest that some domains of neurodevelopment may be negatively associated with pesticide exposure, extrapolation is limited due to the challenges in measuring pesticide exposure within these contexts and differing study designs. Several research gaps must be addressed to develop policy and regulations that protect children from potential neurodevelopmental deficits associated with pesticide exposure.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.