The adverse effects of pesticide exposure range from mild symptoms of dizziness and nausea to serious, long-term neurological, developmental and reproductive disorders. They have a higher impact on children for a number of reasons. Children's internal organs are still developing and maturing. Their enzymatic, metabolic, and immune systems may provide less natural protection than those of an adult. There are "critical periods" in human development when exposure to a toxin can permanently alter the way an individual's biological system operates.

The exposure routes for adults in rural communities are usually direct (since many of them work in the agricultural fields). Children sometimes get directly exposed to the sprays of pesticides given the extensive cotton cultivation in these areas. For children however, there are multiple, indirect routes

The exposure could be in utero. It could even be at conception as sperms can develop abnormalities because of pesticides.

Infants could be exposed to toxic residues present in the mothers’ milk.

Like adults they are also exposed to residues in food and water, or contaminants left in the soil and air. In the Indian cotton belt, the cooking fuel is often dry stalks from the cotton crop on which pesticides have been sprayed heavily during the season.

Rural households often buy cooking vessels from local stores which crush and recycle pesticide dibbas.

Children typically consume larger quantities of food, milk and juice per kilo of body weight than do adults.


They also play on the floor or in the dirt where pesticides are commonly applied.

Children have a higher respiratory rate, taking more breaths per unit of time, so they are subject to more severe inhalation exposures.

They may also be exposed to pesticides by swallowing and through the eyes because they are more likely to rub their eyes or put fingers and other objects in their mouths.