Biological Monitoring of Children’s Pesticide Exposure: A Review of Recent Studies in Washington State. R. A. Fenske, C. Lu, T. Moate, C. Curl, and J. C. Kissel, University of Washington
Biological monitoring can provide useful estimates of pesticide exposure among young children. Dialklyphosphates, the common urinary metabolites of the organophosphorous insecticides, were measured in three recent studies of pesticide exposure among young children (ages 2 to 6) in Washington State. In all of these studies spot urine samples were collected with the help of the children’s parents. Study 1 was conducted in June and October of 1998 in the Seattle metropolitan area, and involved two samples from each of 96 children. Study 2 was conducted in the tree fruit region of central Washington from January 1998 through August 1999, and involved 16-26 samples from each of 44 children from the local community. Study 3 took place in the agricultural region of the Yakima Valley in the summer of 1999, and included one composite sample from 2 or 3 urine voids from 211 children of farm workers. All urine samples were analyzed by the University of Washington Department of Environmental Health Laboratory. General findings from these studies: 1) dimethyl metabolite concentrations were substantially higher (2-9 times) than diethyl concentrations in all studies; 2) dimethyl metabolite concentrations were similar across the three studies (approximately 0.09-0.1 µmol/L); 3) substantially higher dimethyl metabolite concentrations were observed in a subset of the farm worker children (study 3); 4) diethyl metabolite concentrations were similar in studies 1 and 2 (median = 0.04 µmol/L), but these concentrations were significantly higher than those in study 3 (median = 0.01 µmol/L). Geometric mean concentrations for both the dimethyl and diethyl metabolites were generally higher in these three studies than those reported from by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from NHANES III samples. These findings indicate that children’s exposure can differ regionally, and that young children may have higher exposures than the general population.
Supported by EPA STAR Grant No.916001537, EPA Grant No.R826886, NIEHS Grant No.1P01ES09601, NIOSH Cooperative Agreement No. U07/CCU012926; views expressed are not those of these agencies.
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