Classification of Children's Activity Patterns Through a Videotaping Methodology. K. Reed and N. Freeman, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Piscataway, NJ; J. Quackenboss, US EPA, National Exposure Research Laboratory, Las Vegas, Nevada 89193-3478; and P. Lioy, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Piscataway, NJ
A videotaping methodology has been developed for collecting information regarding children’s activities in order to validate activity data from questionnaire and time-activity diaries supplied by a parent or guardian. This method is being developed for use in the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS) pesticide/PAH module to be conducted by the Research Triangle Institute/Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute consortium in EPA Region V. Of particular interest are those hand-to-mouth and mouthing behaviors exhibited by children which may result in direct contact with dust-laden environmental pollutants. The videotaping technique utilizes a team of researchers who record the activities of a particular child during the course of their day. Tapes are then analyzed and manually scored for frequency counts of those behaviors which may result in exposure to contaminants found in the child’s surrounding environment. Using the recordings, time spent in each of seven general locations is also calculated. Information on frequencies of activities and durations in locations calculated from the videotapes are compared to respective information reported in the questionnaires and time-activity diaries completed by a parent or guardian for each participant. Participants for this investigation include 30 children ages 2 through 6 years of age. The activity patterns of children are of particular interest because, despite the fact that they are a sensitive subset of the population, they have been underrepresented in previous exposure assessments. Twenty children from a Rutgers University affiliated Child Study Center and another 10 children from a residential community will be recruited to participate in the investigation. In order to validate questionnaire data, information regarding activities and time spent in locations reported in the questionnaires and diaries will be compared to those activities and durations calculated from the videotapes. Descriptive statistics will be employed for quantification of those activities which may contribute to exposure to dust-laden compounds as a result of hand-to-mouth and mouthing behaviors.