Because of their lower body weight, exposure in children may result in more toxins per pound. Children are also especially sensitive to the neurotoxins often found in pesticides, because children's immune systems, organs, brains and nervous systems are still developing. Acute poisoning from pesticides is an immediate reaction that occurs soon after exposure. The symptoms may mimic other conditions, such as the flu, so it is important not to ignore them if a possibility of pesticide poisoning exists. Symptoms can include skin irritation, dizziness, headache, confusion, shortness of breath, respiratory irritation, nausea, cramping, coma and death.
Chronic poisoning can result from repeated exposure to a pesticide over a long period of time.
Symptoms can be similar to acute poisoning, but because symptoms may not appear until long after exposure, it is more difficult to isolate the cause. Some pesticides have been linked to cancer, birth defects, genetic mutations and neurologic conditions. The environmental dangers posed by a pesticide depend on the amount of time it takes the pesticide to break down, the substances it breaks down into, its ability to be stored in body tissues, its toxicity to different organisms and the amount of exposure. The impact of pesticides is present upon our entire planet. A thin residue of pesticides is found in living tissues, soil, air and water supplies around the world.