The pesticide Naled — which played a key role in the elimination of local Zika transmission in the Miami neighborhood of Wynwood — has been linked to deficits in motor functions among Chinese babies in a new study published in the journal Environment International.
For the study, researchers examined umbilical cord blood from 237 mothers who gave birth to healthy babies at a hospital in China. At nine months old, infants who tested positive for neonatal Naled exposure scored 3 percent to 4 percent lower on tests designed to assess fine motor skills.
"Naled is being aerially sprayed to combat mosquitoes carrying Zika virus, yet this is the first nonoccupational human study of its health effects," wrote the study's authors. "Delays in early-motor skill acquisition may be detrimental for downstream development and cognition."
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