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The attribution of urban and suburban children's exposure to synthetic pyrethroid insecticides: a longitudinal assessment

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 19, pages 69–78 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Despite the widespread use of synthetic pyrethroid insecticides that led to common exposure in the population, very few studies have been conducted to quantitatively assess human, particularly, children's, long-term exposures to pyrethroid insecticides. The objective of the Children Pesticide Exposure Study – Washington (CPES-WA) was to establish the longitudinal exposure profiles for pyrethroid insecticides in a cohort of children living in an urban and suburban community using urinary pyrethroid metabolites as exposure biomarkers. The results from this analysis will allow us to examine potential risk factors in relation to the elevated pyrethroid insecticide exposure in children. A total of 23 children, aged 3–11 years, who only consumed conventional diets were enrolled in this 1-year study. We provided organic food items to children for 5 consecutive days in the summer and fall sampling seasons. We measured urinary metabolites for the synthetic pyrethroid insecticides in urine samples that were collected twice daily during each of the four sampling seasons. 3-phenoxybenzoic acid was frequently detected in the urine samples with mean and median daily volume-weighted average levels of 1.5 and 1.2 μg/l, followed by trans-2,2-(dichloro)-2-dimethylvinylcyclopropane carboxylic acid (1.4 and 1.0 μg/l) and cis-2,2-(dichloro)-2-dimethylvinylcyclopropane carboxylic acid (0.5 μg/l, and non-detected). When we took into account season, age, sex, diet, and self-reported residential use of pyrethroid insecticides in a linear mixed-effects model, the results suggested that the combination of the use of pyrethroid insecticides in the household, dietary intake, and seasonal differences play a significant role in predicting children's exposure to synthetic pyrethroid insecticides. We found CPES-WA children were continuously exposed to pyrethroid insecticides through their diets all year long, and this chronic exposure pattern was periodically modified by episodes of relatively high exposures from residential uses. Future research should be devoted to enhancing our understanding of the complexity of pyrethroid insecticide exposure patterns.

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Abbreviations

ATSDR:

Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry

CDC:

Center for Disease Control and Prevention

CPES:

Children's Pesticide Exposure Study

CPES-WA:

Children's Pesticide Exposure Study – Washington

CPES-GA:

Children's Pesticide Exposure Study – Georgia

DBCA:

cis-2,2-(dibromo)-2-dimethylvinylcyclopropane carboxylic acid

cis-DCCA:

cis-2,2-(dichloro)-2-dimethylvinylcyclopropane carboxylic acid

trans-DCCA:

trans-2,2-(dichloro)-2-dimethylvinylcyclopropane carboxylic acid

DVWA concentration:

daily volume-weighted average concentration

FPBA:

4-fluoro-3-phenoxybenzoic acid

FQPA:

Food Quality Protection Act

LOD:

limit of detection

NHANES:

National Human Nutrition and Health Survey

OP:

organophosphorus pesticide

PBA:

3-phenoxybenzoic acid; US EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency, Science to Achieve Results program (RD-829364) and the National Center for Environmental Health in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of US EPA or CDC. We express our sincere appreciation to the children who participated and to their parents who greatly assisted in this study. We also thank Rene Irish, Kathryn Toepel, Patrick Sande, and Richard Fenske at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, for their assistance in conducting this study, and Paula Restrepo, Jessica Norrgran, Robert Walker, and Charles Chambers at the NCEH/CDC for their help with sample analysis and data management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Chensheng Lu & Melanie A Pearson

  2. National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Dana B Barr & Roberto Bravo

  3. Department of Biostatistics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Lance A Walker

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  1. Chensheng Lu
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  2. Dana B Barr
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  3. Melanie A Pearson
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  4. Lance A Walker
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Correspondence to Chensheng Lu.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Lu, C., Barr, D., Pearson, M. et al. The attribution of urban and suburban children's exposure to synthetic pyrethroid insecticides: a longitudinal assessment. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 19, 69–78 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2008.49

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