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Home-based community health worker intervention to reduce pesticide exposures to farmworkers’ children: A randomized-controlled trial

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 25, pages 608–615 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

We conducted a randomized-controlled trial of a home-based intervention to reduce pesticide exposures to farmworkers’ children in Monterey County, California (n=116 families). The intervention consisted of three home-based educational sessions delivered by community health workers in Spanish. Measurements of organophosphate (OP) insecticide metabolites in child urine (n=106) and pesticides in home floor wipes (n=103) were collected before and after the intervention. Median child urinary dialkyl phosphate (DAP) metabolite levels were slightly lower among the intervention group children at follow-up compared with baseline, albeit nonsignificantly. DAP metabolite levels in the control group children were markedly higher at follow-up compared with baseline. In adjusted models, intervention participation was associated with a 51% decrease in total DAP metabolite levels. Carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin, dacthal, diazinon, malathion, and trans-permethrin were commonly detected in the floor wipes. In adjusted models, intervention participation was significantly associated with a 37% decrease in trans-permethrin floor wipe levels in homes, but not OP or other agricultural pesticides. In summary, intervention group children had slightly reduced pesticide exposures, whereas child exposures were higher among the control group. Additional intervention studies evaluating methods to reduce pesticide exposures to farmworker families and children are needed.

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Acknowledgements

This publication was made possible by US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) grant RD 83171001 and National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) grants RO1 ES11352 and PO1 ES009605. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the grantee and do not necessarily represent the official views of the US EPA or NIEHS. Further, the US EPA does not endorse the purchase of any commercial products or services mentioned in the publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center College of Public Health, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Alicia L Salvatore

  2. Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health (CERCH), School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Alicia L Salvatore, Rosemary Castorina, Brenda Eskenazi & Asa Bradman

  3. Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS), Clínica de Salud del Valle de Salinas, Salinas, CA, USA

    José Camacho & Norma Morga

  4. California Rural Legal Assistance, Salinas, CA, USA

    Jesús López

  5. Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, OH, USA

    Marcia Nishioka

  6. Emory University, School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Dana B Barr

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  1. Alicia L Salvatore
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Correspondence to Asa Bradman.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology website

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Salvatore, A., Castorina, R., Camacho, J. et al. Home-based community health worker intervention to reduce pesticide exposures to farmworkers’ children: A randomized-controlled trial. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 25, 608–615 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2015.39

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