There is a devoted following of people in the health-conscious state of Oregon who believe in only eating and purchasing organic food. And their lifestyle just received a little backup.

In a new study in the journal Pediatrics, cases of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are beginning to be associated with exposure to pesticides. For those living in a rural environment, this could have an especially big impact.

The study specifically focused on the exposure to pesticides called organophosphates, and, through testing the urine of 1,100 children, discovered that those with the highest levels of the chemical have a higher rate of ADHD.

Although they are not claiming to have found a direct link between ADHD and pesticides, it does open up the door for more testing.

If for some reason you didn’t know, organophosphate pesticides cause nerve damage to the brain by disrupting acetylcholinesterase, a neurotransmitter. This defect has also been connected with children suffering from ADHD.

So, what this study shows is that we aren’t only killing the pests, we are harming ourselves in the process. This really should not come as a shock to most of us.

Common sense should tell you that eating food sprayed with chemicals will inevitably cause some kind of harm. But, with the goal of the corporate food sector being to produce as much food as possible and our propensity to eat it because it is cheap and tasty, we tend to ignore the ramifications of chemical pesticides.

With this study comes an impetus for the government to intervene and possibly set national standards for a decrease in the use of these pesticides.

This debate has been going on for some time, and it’s not the first study to prove the harmful nature of chemicals. However, the study seems relatively speculative as to how much of a threat these pesticides can pose.

Perhaps, in the not-so-distant future, we will be able to find grocery stores without segregated organic and non-organic fruits and veggies sections; we will be rid of the price differences. And, most importantly, we will be given the ability to eat healthfully without the fear of our children developing ADHD.

For now, those who want to protect their children will have to stick to the more expensive organically grown fruits and vegetables and avoid the use of bug sprays.

For those who are accustomed to eating non-organic food, wash and scrub your produce to reduce pesticide residue. And, with any luck, we won’t have to deal with unruly, hyperactive children in a pesticide-free future.