Are domestic pesticides or insecticides safe during pregnancy?
The safest rule of thumb is that pregnant women should avoid pesticides whenever possible. The California Birth Defects Monitoring Program reports that three out of every four women are exposed to pesticides around the home. They also observed that pregnant women exposed to household gardening pesticides had a modest risk increase for oral clefts, neural tube defects, heart defects, and limb defects. Women living within 1/4 mile of agricultural crops had the same modest risk increase for neural tube defects. The Environmental Health Perspectives Journal (EHP) Volume 110 reports that children who are exposed to indoor pesticides are at an elevated risk of leukemia. EHP adds that the risk is increased during the first three months of pregnancy and when professional pest control services are used in the home.
