Evaluation of methods for monitoring the potential exposure of small children to pesticides in the residential environment

Abstract

A nine-home pilot study was conducted to evaluate monitoring methods in the field that may be used to assess the potential exposures of children aged 6 months to 5 years to pesticides found in the home environment. Several methods, some of which were newly developed in this study, were tested for measuring pesticide residues in indoor air, carpet dust, outdoor soil, and on the children's hands. Information was also collected on household characteristics, pesticides used and stored at the residence, and children's activities. Pesticides were detected at all nine study homes. With the exception of one home, at least one pesticide was detected in all matrices sampled at each house. Of the 30 target pesticides, 23 were detected during the study. The most frequently detected pesticides were chlordane, chlorpyrifos, dieldrin, hepatachlor, and pentachlorophenol. The greatest number of pesticides and highest concentrations were found in carpet dust. The results of these investigations will be discussed in terms of performance of the methods and the distribution of pesticides across the various media sampled.

Bioaccessibility of pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls from house dust: in-vitro methods and human exposure assessment

“…2,69,75 According to the literature, children in general ingest about 50 mg/day house dust during the summer and 100 mg/day during the winter, when they spend more time indoors. 57,58 In the case of pica behavior (eating of non-nutritive substances), uptake can reach up to 2--30 g/day.…”

“…57,58 In the case of pica behavior (eating of non-nutritive substances), uptake can reach up to 2--30 g/day. 2 Adults usually incorporate only 0.6 mg house dust per day, mainly because of dust settled on food and all kinds of surfaces combined with occasional hand to mouth contacts. 57,68 For adults, the mucous clearance of inhaled dust contributes significantly to the oral exposure.…”

“…As a result of their behavior and their great body surface/ weight ratio, children may be especially sensitive to exposure to chemicals from house dust. 2 Hence, the exposure assessment focuses on children, distinguishing between toddlers (age 2 years) and children at the enrollment age (6 years). Adults were chosen as a third scenario.…”

“…1,2 Thus, besides occupational and nutritional exposure, the indoor environment of private homes can be a significant contribution to exposure of contaminants. 3 Semivolatile organic compounds like most pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) tend to accumulate in house dust up to concentrations of some p.p.m.…”

The EL sampler: a press sampler for the quantitative estimation of dermal exposure to pesticides in housedust

“…Increasing attention is being paid to children's exposure to pesticide residues in housedust (Fenske et al, 1990;Lewis et al, 1994) due to reported associations between residential pesticide use and childhood leukemia (Lowengart et al, 1987;Shu et al, 1988;Buckley et al, 1989). Daniels et al (1997) reviewed 31 epidemiological studies published between 1970 and 1996 and reported that no-pest strips and frequent use of pesticides in the home may be strongly associated with childhood leukemia.…”