What are the health risks due to pesticides used in food?

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The effects on humans and the environment of exposure to pesticides are a continuing concern. Pesticide poisonings result in symptoms like nausea, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, dizziness, anxiety, and confusion, which can be quite severe but are often reversible. Thes studies have found that chronic, lower dose exposure is associated with respiratory problems, memory disorders, skin conditions, depression, miscarriage, birth defects, cancer and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. 

Fetuses, infants, growing children, pregnant and nursing mothers, and women of childbearing age are most at risk for adverse health outcomes from exposure to pesticides. Children are more at risk than adults because children eat more relative to their body weight than adults eat. Exposures during vulnerable periods of development can be particularly dangerous.