Elham Mahdavian
1 
, Mohammad Hasan Ehrampoush
2, Sara Jambarsang
3, Fahimeh Teimouri
2* , Mohammad Javad Zare
4, Mohamad Nadi Sakhvidi
51 Student Research Committee, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
2 Environmental Sciences and Technology Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
3 Center for Healthcare Data Modeling, Departments of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of public health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
4 Occupational Health Research Center, Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
5 Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
Abstract
Exposure to pesticides is associated with various health concerns and may also be related to impaired cognitive function. This study investigated the relationship between greenhouse density and cognitive function in primary school children using Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) and environmental sampling. This study was conducted on 128 children (6–9 years old) in Ebrahimabad village, Ashkezar, Yazd, Iran in 2019, and 10 students were excluded from the study after filling consent form. The WISC-IV measured children’s cognitive function, and a flame ionization detector for gas chromatography (GC-FID) instrument was used to detect environmental exposure to pesticides. There was a significant inverse relationship between greenhouse density in children’s homes and cognitive function scores with verbal thinking scores (P value=0.003) and the total scale (P value=0.0001) on the WISC. Further, the results showed that the obtained verbal thinking scores are significantly related to their fathers’ education (P value=0.008) and occupation (P value=0.014). Moreover, the results of environmental exposure measurement confirmed the presence of malathion, ethion, chlorpyrifos, dieldrin, and oxadiazine with a maximum concentration of 183 µg/m3 in response to malathion. The present study indicated that increasing the density of the greenhouse reduces children’s cognitive functions. The results of ambient air analysis confirmed the environmental exposure to pesticides as well. Due to long-term chemical effects, management measures such as public education, substituting crop types, and the use of eco-friendly methods are unavoidable.