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Quantitative analysis of children's microactivity patterns: The Minnesota Children's Pesticide Exposure Study

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 11, pages 501–509 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

The National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS)/Minnesota Children's Pesticide Exposure Study (MNCPES) was a population-based study designed to characterize children's exposure to residential pesticides and to evaluate the contribution of residential and children's activities to children's exposure. Families of 168 children were surveyed for residential use of pesticides and children's activities. From these homes, families of 102 children between the ages of 3 and 13 years participated in a week-long intensive exposure study. Of the 102 children, 19 children were videotaped for four consecutive hours in their normal daily activities. The survey responses indicated that the youngest children were more likely to exhibit behaviors that would foster exposure to environmental contaminants. Comparison of questionnaire responses indicated that the videotaped subsample was representative of the exposure study population. The microactivities of the videotaped children that might contribute to their exposure via ingestion or dermal routes were quantified. Hand-to-mouth and object-to-mouth activities were observed most frequently among the youngest children. The youngest children were also most likely to be barefoot both indoors and outside. Gender differences were found in mouthing behavior and the proportion of observed time spent outdoors.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the families that participated in this study and allowed us into their homes. We acknowledge the VideoTraq transcriptions carried out by Lavinia Thompson. This study was funded through the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS) Region 5 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cooperative agreement CR821902-01-0 to Research Triangle Institute and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI), and by EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grant R825282 to the University of Minnesota. Drs. Lioy and Freeman are also supported by the NIEHS Center grant (ES05022-12). Although the research described in this article has been funded in part by the EPA, it has not been subjected to review and, therefore, does not necessarily reflect the views of the agency, and no official endorsement should be inferred.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    N C G FREEMAN, M JIMENEZ, A ROY & P J LIOY

  2. Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    N C G FREEMAN, A ROY & P J LIOY

  3. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA

    K J REED, S GURUNATHAN & R D EDWARDS

  4. Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

    E D PELLIZZARI

  5. University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    J L ADGATE & K SEXTON

  6. Environmental Protection Agency, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

    J QUACKENBOSS

  7. Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA

    R D EDWARDS

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  1. N C G FREEMAN
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Correspondence to N C G FREEMAN.

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FREEMAN, N., JIMENEZ, M., REED, K. et al. Quantitative analysis of children's microactivity patterns: The Minnesota Children's Pesticide Exposure Study. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 11, 501–509 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500193

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500193

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