INFANT leukaemia - which threatens the lives of around 450 youngsters in the UK each year - has been linked to commonly-used pesticides by a team of Scottish scientists.

The study showed that pregnant women who were exposed to a substance from the same family of chemicals were 10 times more likely to have a baby which developed the deadly disease than mothers who were not exposed.

Professor Freda Alexander of Edinburgh University led an international team which looked at 136 mothers from across the globe who gave birth to babies with infant acute leukaemia.

Comparison with 266 mothers who had healthy babies, pointed the finger to a substance called Baygon, which comes from the carbamate family of chemicals and is used in mosquito repellent.

Although Baygon is not available in the UK it is closely related to pesticides which are in common use throughout Britain.

Alexander said: "We have found this association with one specific substance [Baygon], but it is unlikely to apply to just that substance. We have to look at the broader picture and look at the family of pesticides to which it belongs.

"Other carbamate pesticides could be risk factors. If I were pregnant I would take care to keep away from carbamate pesticides and that includes ones in the fields."

In her study, published in this month’s journal of Cancer Research, Alexander concludes: "Given the widespread use of Baygon and other carbamate-based insecticides in certain settings, confirmation of these apparent associations is urgently needed."

Environmental campaigners Pesticide Action Network UK told Scotland on Sunday there are three main carbamates in use in this country - carbaryl, carbofuran and carbosulfan.

The chemicals are used to kill a variety of pests including aphids, cabbage root fly, vine weevils, codling moths and earwigs.

Dr Richard Dixon, head of research at Friends of the Earth, called for the pesticides to be banned until further research is carried out.

"It is certainly of great concern," said Dixon. "I think it is quite right to be suspicious of chemicals that are in the same family. Our approach would be that we should have a precautionary ban on all these chemicals until they have been tested under the same circumstances."

Experts believe the findings could offer at least a partial explanation for a series of childhood leukaemia clusters in various parts of the UK.

Environmental campaigners have long believed that there has been a higher incidence of leukaemia near the nuclear reactors at Dounreay and Sellafield.

Fears of a higher than expected rate of childhood cancers have also been raised in Cowdenbeath, which lies in the shadow of a huge chemical plant.

There have also been claims that firing depleted uranium shells at a range on the Solway Firth has led to a higher risk of leukaemia in the Dumfriesshire village of Dundrennan.

Dixon said: "The causes of leukaemia in childhood are very complex and the prevailing theory at the moment is that there is likely to be a multitude of causes.

"This may be the answer, but I suspect that it is more likely to be part of the answer acting in concert with other factors. But we should not be using these chemicals until we have cleared them."

Although treatments have improved over the years, up to 25% of children with the disease die. Those that survive have to endure punishing treatment with painful side effects.

A spokesman for Bayer, who make Baygon, said: "It is very difficult to make a response as Baygon is not a product that we market in this country."

The same research team found that another chemical, a pain killer called dipyrone, could be linked to the disease.

Expectant mothers exposed to the drug, known as Mexican aspirin, were five times more likely to have a child who suffered leukaemia.

Dipyrone is not licensed for use in the UK, although it is available in some European countries.

tpeterkin@scotlandonsunday.com

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