Nondietary ingestion of pesticides by children in an agricultural community on the US/Mexico border: Preliminary results

Shalat, SL; Donnelly, KC; Freeman, NCG; Calvin, JA; Ramesh, S; Jimenez, M; Black, K; Coutinho, C; Needham, LL; Barr, DB; Ramirez, J

HERO ID

49754

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year

2003

Language

English

PMID

12595883

HERO ID 49754
In Press No
Year 2003
Title Nondietary ingestion of pesticides by children in an agricultural community on the US/Mexico border: Preliminary results
Authors Shalat, SL; Donnelly, KC; Freeman, NCG; Calvin, JA; Ramesh, S; Jimenez, M; Black, K; Coutinho, C; Needham, LL; Barr, DB; Ramirez, J
Journal Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology
Volume 13
Issue 1
Page Numbers 42-50
Abstract An environmental measurement and correlation study of nondietary ingestion of pesticides was carried out in a colonia in south Texas. The purpose of the study was to evaluate young children's exposure to environmental levels of organophosphate (OP) pesticides in the household. Samples were collected to measure levels of OP pesticides in housedust and on children's hands. These, in turn, were compared to levels of OP pesticide metabolites in urine. A total of 52 children, 25 boys and 27 girls, participated in the spring and summer of 2000. The children were 7-53 months of age at the time of recruitment. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were carried out using SAS statistical software. Seventy-six percent of housedust samples and 50% of hand rinse samples contained OP pesticides. All urine samples had at least one metabolite and over 95% had at least two metabolites above the limit of detection (LOD). Total OP loadings in the housedust ranged from nondetectable (nd) to 78.03 nmol/100 cm2 (mean=0.15 nmol/100 cm2; median=0.07 nmol/100 cm2); total OP loadings on the children's hands ranged from nd to 13.40 nmol/100 cm2 (mean=1.21 nmol/100 cm2; median=1.41 nmol/100 cm2), and creatinine corrected urinary levels (nmol/mol creatinine) of total OP metabolites ranged from 3.2 to 257 nmol/mol creatinine (mean=42.6; median 27.4 nmol/mol creatinine). Urinary metabolites were inversely associated with the age of the child (in months) with the parameter estimate (pe)=-2.11, P=0.0070, and 95% confidence interval -3.60 to -0.61. The multivariate analysis observed a weak association between concentrations of OP pesticides in housedust, loadings in housedust, and concentration on hands, hand surface area, and urinary levels of OP metabolites. However, hand loadings of OP pesticides were more strongly associated (r2=0.28; P=0.0156) with urinary levels of OP metabolites (pe=6.39; 95% CI 0.98-11.80). This study's preliminary findings suggest that surface loadings of pesticides, on hands, are more highly correlated with urinary bioassays and, therefore, may be more useful for estimation of exposure in epidemiologic studies than levels of pesticides in housedust.
Doi 10.1038/sj.jea.7500249
Pmid 12595883
Wosid WOS:000181145200005
Is Certified Translation No
Dupe Override No
Is Public Yes
Language Text English