Systematic Literature Review of the Take-Home Route of Pesticide Exposure via Biomonitoring and Environmental Monitoring

Abstract

Background: Exposure to pesticides via take-home can be an important pathway for farmworkers' families. Objective: The aim of this review was to summarize and analyze the literature published during the last decade of exposure to pesticides via take-home pathway in farmworkers' families. Methods: We conducted a systematic review to identify peer-reviewed articles of interest; only articles related to take-home pathway that included some sort of pesticide monitoring were considered for inclusion. Systematic reviews, literature reviews, and meta-analyses were excluded, resulting in a total of 39 articles elected for analysis. The articles were summarized based on the location of the study, population (sample size), pesticide analyzed, and type of sample. Results: The majority of the reviewed studies were conducted in the U.S., but there seems to be an increase in literature on pesticide take-home pathway in developing countries. Most of the articles provided evidence that farmworkers’ families are exposed to pesticides at higher levels than non-farmworkers’ families. The levels may depend on several factors such as seasonality, parental occupation, cohabitation with a farmworker, behavior at work/home, age, and gender. Community-based interventions disrupting the take-home pathway seem to be effective at reducing pesticide exposure. Discussion/Conclusion: The take-home pathway is an important contributor to overall residential exposures, but other pathways such as pesticide drift, indoor-residential applications, and dietary intake need to be considered. A more comprehensive exposure assessment approach is necessary to better understand exposures to pesticides.

Respiratory and Allergic Effects in Children Exposed to Pesticides—A Systematic Review

“…Children are exposed to pesticides through multiple pathways, which can include: having a mother exposed to pesticides while pregnant, living or studying near areas with pesticide use, attending agricultural areas, having parents working in agriculture, having residential exposure through take-home exposure, and eating and drinking contaminated food and water, among others [10,37]. A hospital-based multisite study in Sri Lanka observed that most children poisoned with pesticides had at least one parent engaged in farming activities (~58%), and were exposed at cultivation sites (~51%) [38].…”

Toxic Effects of Pesticides on Humans, Plants, Animals, Pollinators and Beneficial Organisms

“…Besides, some other symptoms are revealed during moderate poisoning status including nausea, vomiting, headache, lacrimation, excessive salivation, respiratory depression, seizures, loss of consciousness, reduced visual ability, allergy, abdominal cramps, and rapid pulse. In severe poisoning exhibit inability to breathe, extra phlegm or mucous in the air routes, burn of the skin, increase the rate of breathing, pulmonary fibrosis, myocarditis and necrosis, pancytopenia, and adrenal hemorrhage, loss of reflexes, extreme weakness, and even death [35,2,10,36,37].…”

Efeitos à saúde por exposição ambiental e ocupacional aos pesticidas de uso agrícola

“…Children are exposed to pesticide through multiple pathways, that can include: having a mother exposed to pesticides while pregnant, living or studying near areas with pesticide use, attending agricultural areas, having parents working in agriculture, having residential exposure by take-home exposure, eating and drinking contaminated food and water, among others López-Gálvez et al, 2019). A hospital-based multisite study in Sri Lanka observed that most children poisoned with pesticides had at least one parent engaged in farming activities (~58%), and were exposed at cultivation sites (~51%) (Dayasiri et al, 2017).…”

“…Diversos fatores podem aumentar a exposição das crianças aos pesticidas, como por exemplo, a ocupação dos pais ou responsáveis, aplicação de pesticidas domésticos, proximidade residencial ou das escolas de áreas de aplicação e armazenagem de pesticidas, número de trabalhadores rurais expostos aos pesticidas vivendo no mesmo domicílio, tipo de cultivo, entre outros López-Gálvez et al, 2019;Muñoz-Quezada et al, 2012).…”

“…Além disso, algumas características das crianças podem influenciar a exposição, como colocar as mãos e objetos na boca com maior frequência, passar mais tempo no chão em contato com resíduos de pesticidas, ter uma dieta menos variada e baseada em alimentos com maior nível de resíduos, como frutas, sucos de frutas e leite López-Gálvez et al, 2019;UNICEF, 2018). As crianças também comem, bebem e respiram mais por peso pessoal do que os adultos (Bouchard et al, 2010).…”