1. ¹U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 93478, Las Vegas, Nevada 89193
2. ²Research Triangle Institute, P.O. Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709
3. ³Minnesota Department of Health, 121 E 7th Place, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101
4. ⁴School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Box 807 UMHC, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
5. ⁵Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 170 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08855

Correspondence: James J. Quackenboss, U.S. EPA, NERL (HERB), P.O. Box 93478, Las Vegas, NV 89193-3478. Tel.: (702)798-2442. Fax: (702)798-2261. E-mail: quackenboss.james@epa.gov

Received 5 April 1999; Accepted 30 November 1999.

Abstract

Although children are exposed to a variety of environmental hazards, including pesticides, there is a scarcity of information available to estimate exposures realistically. This article reports on one of the first attempts to measure multi-pathway pesticide exposures in a population-based sample of urban and non-urban children. A design strategy was developed to assess multi-pathway pesticide exposures in children using personal exposure measurements in combination with complimentary measurements of biological markers of exposure, concentrations in relevant environmental media, and time spent in important microenvironments and participating in exposure-related activities. Sample collection and analysis emphasized measurement of three insecticides (i.e., chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and malathion) and one herbicide (i.e., atrazine). These compounds were selected because of their frequent use, presence in multiple environmental media, expected population exposures, and related hazard/toxicity. The study was conducted during the summer of 1997 in Minnesota and involved a stratified sample of households with children ages 3–12 years. Participants resided in either (a) the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul (urban households), or (b) Rice and Goodhue Counties just south of the metropolitan area (non-urban households). Results from a residential inventory documenting storage and use of products containing the target pesticides were used to preferentially select households where children were likely to have higher exposures. The study successfully obtained pesticide exposure data for 102 children, including measurements of personal exposures (air, hand rinse, duplicate diet), environmental concentrations (residential indoor/outdoor air, drinking water, residential surfaces, soil), activity patterns (obtained by questionnaire, diary, videotaping), and internal dose (metabolites in urine).