Pesticides and immunosuppression: the risks to public health

There is substantial experimental, epidemiological and other evidence thatmany pesticides in widespread use around the world are immunosuppressive.This poses a potentially serious health risk in populations highly exposedto infectious and parasitic diseases, subject to malnutrition, andinadequately served by curative health programmes. An expanded programme ofresearch is needed to investigate this potential risk and to designprecautionary measures.