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How Pesticide Exposure Poses Health Risks To Infants Term Paper

Pamphlet on Pesticide Exposure and the Health and Safety of Infants Pesticide is a term that is used to refer to products that are developed to destroy, prevent, ward off, and mitigate any pest. The main aim of the use of these products in the home environment is to destroy bacteria, weed, and fungi as well as kill insects through destroying their neurological and reproductive systems. While these products are used to help promote the health and safety of every individual in the home setting, exposure to them can sometimes generate significant health risks. Pesticide exposure can act as a source of injury or a factor that exacerbates illness, especially in vulnerable populations such as infants. This pamphlet provides information on how pesticide exposure affects the health and safety of infants and offers recommendations on accident prevention and safety promotion in relation to pesticide exposure.

The Threat of Pesticide Exposure on Infants' Health and Safety

Pesticides are common household products that are used to spray for fleas, ants, flies, and other pests in the home environment. These products become part of dust in the house and tend to settle in various items in the house such as carpets, children's toys and stuffed animals, and beddings. As a result, individuals at home are usually exposed to these products because of their ability to settle in various household items. Pesticide exposure occurs through oral ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption of chemicals in the products (Davis, 2007). Exposure to pesticide chemicals poses significant health risks...

Infants are at a high risk of being affected by pesticide exposure not only because of the widespread use of these chemicals but also for various reasons. Some of the reasons for infants' increased health risks from pesticide exposure include the state of their internal organs and their tendency to eat different foods than adults. Infants' internal organs are still growing and maturing, which implies that their immune, metabolic, and enzymatic systems may offer less ordinary protection as compared to those of adults ("Children Are at Greater Risks," 2002). The tendency of children to eat different foods than adults increases their health risk in addition to their behaviors of playing on surfaces where pesticides are commonly applied.
While the effect of pesticide exposure on the health and safety of an infant depends on the toxicity of the pesticide ingredients, these products tend to affect a child's neurological system and biological system. Some of the most common effects of pesticide exposure on infants' health and safety include headache, nausea, excessive salivation and perspiration, dizziness, muscle weakness, convulsions, and papillary constriction. In some cases, pesticide exposure results in abnormal skin sensations such as skin irritation, rash, and burning.

In relation to pesticide exposure on infants, accident prevention and safety promotion involves a series of recommendations including using non-chemical measures for controlling pests when possible, complying with label instructions in the products, and…

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References

"Children Are at Greater Risks from Pesticide Exposure." (2002, January). Pesticides: Topical & Chemical Fact Sheets. Retrieved from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/kidpesticide.htm

Davis, A.D.B. (2007, May). Home Environmental Health Risks. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 12(2). Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Volume122007/No2May07/HomeEnvironmentalHealthRisks.htm

"Pesticides and Children." (2013, May 23). National Pesticide Information Center. Retrieved from Oregon State University website: http://npic.orst.edu/health/child.html
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