The combined results of three different studies have claimed that unborn babies exposed to pesticide levels in the womb have lower average IQs as compared to other kids. Two of the studies were conducted in New York and one in an agricultural community in California. These studies suggest that pesticides could have a long lasting effect on the intelligence levels of a kid.

The studies have also found that kids exposed to pesticides in womb are likely to lag behind other healthy kids in their school.

The researchers from Berkeley and Mount Sinai evaluated the samples of the urine of pregnant women whereas the research team of Columbia tested umbilical cord blood levels of chlorpyrifos, bacteria known to be poisonous for brain cells.

The researchers of Colombia have also evaluated 265 New York City unborn minority children. The findings suggested that higher levels of chlorpyrifos in the umbilical cord blood of unborn babies were linked with lower performance on two different IQ tests.

Children who were exposed to highest 25% of exposure levels scored an average 2.7 points lesser than other kids in the IQ study. In order to protect kids from any such problems, doctors have advised the pregnant women to wash fresh fruits and vegetables properly before eating.