LOS ANGELES—Pesticide exposure during pregnancy might lead to the development of central nervous system tumors during childhood, according to a study involving researchers from the University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA), University of Southern California and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The increased risk of these tumors, estimated as much as twice to 2.5 times higher for some pesticides, occurs even if the mother is not a farmworker, or lived as far as 2.5 miles from the field where the pesticides are sprayed, researchers found. “Exposure to certain pesticides, simply through residential proximity to agricultural applications during pregnancy, may increase the risk of childhood central nervous system tumors,” said Beate Ritz, a professor of epidemiology at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health and one of the study’s co-authors. “Policy interventions to reduce pesticide exposure in individuals residing near agricultural fields should be considered to protect the health of children.” The research team, which …