Pesticides are more dangerous to children than they are to adults. Children get sick from amounts of pesticides that may not hurt adults. Amounts of pesticides that will only make adults sick may kill babies and children.

Because they are smaller, children get sick from small amounts of pesticides. Because children breathe much faster than adults, they get sick more easily from toxics in the air. Because they put their hands and other things in their mouths more than adults, they are likely to eat things that will harm them. And because young children are closer to the ground, they are likely to breathe in more chemicals from the air that drift close to the ground, or that collect in dust.

Signs of Pesticide Poisoning in Children

Pesticides affect children more than adults. Even small doses of poison can affect a child’s ability to learn and grow, and may cause allergies and breathing problems that will last his whole life.
Common signs of pesticide poisoning in children are:
- tiredness
- fits and shaking (seizures)
- unconsciousness

Signs that may show up months or years after a child is exposed to chemicals include:
- Allergies
- Breathing problems
- Difficulty learning
- Slow growth
- Cancer
- Other health problems may be made worse
- Birth defects: When a pregnant woman is exposed to pesticides, it can cause damage to the unborn child. Being exposed to pesticides does not mean that your baby will have birth defects. It simply means that your baby has a higher chance of having birth defects.

How to Protect Children from Pesticides

Besides staying away from pesticides, children:
- should not play with, use, or even touch old pesticide containers.
- should not play on farm equipment that is used to spray pesticides.
- should not wade or swim in irrigation or drainage ditches.
- should not enter or play in recently treated fields.

Adults can protect children from pesticides by:
- washing work clothes and shoes before entering the house and before touching children.
- washing children’s clothes apart from parents’ clothes.
- washing fruits and vegetables very well before eating them.
- not using pesticides at home, especially indoors.
- storing pesticide containers and equipment out of children’s reach.