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Assessment of residential environmental exposure to pesticides from agricultural fields in the Netherlands

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 28, pages 173–181 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

We developed a spatio-temporal model for the Netherlands to estimate environmental exposure to individual agricultural pesticides at the residential address for application in a national case–control study on Parkinson’s disease (PD). Data on agricultural land use and pesticide use were combined to estimate environmental exposure to pesticides for the period 1961 onwards. Distance categories of 0–50 m, >50–100 m, >100–500 m and >500–1000 m around residences were considered. For illustration purposes, exposure was estimated for the control population (n=607) in the PD case–control study. In a small validation effort, model estimates were compared with pesticide measurements in air and precipitation collected at 17 stations in 2000–2001. Estimated exposure prevalence was higher for pesticides used on commonly cultivated (rotating) crops than for pesticides used on fruit and bulbs only. Prevalence increased with increasing distance considered. Moderate-to-high correlations were observed between model estimates (>100–500 m and >500–1000 m) and environmental pesticide concentrations measured in 2000–2001. Environmental exposure to individual pesticides can be estimated using relevant spatial and temporal data sets on agricultural land use and pesticide use. Our approach seems to result in accurate estimates of average environmental exposure, although it remains to be investigated to what extent this reflect personal exposure to agricultural pesticides.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by funding from the ‘Stichting Internationaal Parkinson Fonds’ (The Netherlands), research grant 2007–18.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Maartje Brouwer, Hans Kromhout, Roel Vermeulen & Anke Huss

  2. Julius Centre for Public Health Sciences and Primary Care, Utrecht University Medical Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Roel Vermeulen

  3. Department Urban Environment, TNO Built Environment and Geosciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Jan Duyzer

  4. Earth Observation and Environmental Informatics, ALTERRA, Wageningen University & Research centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Henk Kramer

  5. Spatial Knowledge Systems, ALTERRA, Wageningen University & Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Gerard Hazeu

  6. Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Geert de Snoo

Authors
  1. Maartje Brouwer
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  2. Hans Kromhout
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Correspondence to Anke Huss.

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

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Brouwer, M., Kromhout, H., Vermeulen, R. et al. Assessment of residential environmental exposure to pesticides from agricultural fields in the Netherlands. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 28, 173–181 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2017.3

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