The study focused on a class of pesticides called pyrethroids. People use these chemicals in agriculture and for residential pest control. Pyrethroids also appear in a range of household products.
As the authors of the new study paper explain, pyrethroids are present in “household and garden insecticides, pet sprays and shampoos, lice treatments, and mosquito repellents.”
Pyrethroids account for around 30% of all pesticides in use worldwide. Also, because people phased organophosphates out for residential use, their use of pyrethroids has risen sharply in recent decades.