| Lessons Learned for the Assessment of Children’s Pesticide Exposure: Critical Sampling and Analytical Issues for Future Studies Richard A. Fenske,1 Asa Bradman,2 Robin M. Whyatt,3 Mary
S. Wolff,4 and Dana B. Barr5 1Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School
of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle,
Washington, USA; 2Center for Children’s Environmental Health
Research, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California,
USA; 3Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health,
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, USA; 4Department
of Community and Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York,
New York, USA; 5National Center for Environmental Health, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Abstract
In this article we examine sampling strategies and analytical methods used in a series of recent studies of children’s exposure to pesticides that may prove useful in the design and implementation of the National Children’s Study. We focus primarily on the experiences of four of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/ Children’s Centers and include University of Washington studies that predated these centers. These studies have measured maternal exposures, perinatal exposures, infant and toddler exposures, and exposure among young children through biologic monitoring, personal sampling, and environmental monitoring. Biologic monitoring appears to be the best available method for assessment of children’s exposure to pesticides, with some limitations. It is likely that a combination of biomarkers, environmental measurements, and questionnaires will be needed after careful consideration of the specific hypotheses posed by investigators and the limitations of each exposure metric. The value of environmental measurements, such as surface and toy wipes and indoor air or house dust samples, deserves further investigation. Emphasis on personal rather than environmental sampling in conjunction with urine or blood sampling is likely to be most effective at classifying exposure. For infants and young children, ease of urine collection (possible for extended periods of time) may make these samples the best available approach to capturing exposure variability of nonpersistent pesticides ; additional validation studies are needed. Saliva measurements of pesticides, if feasible, would overcome the limitations of urinary metabolite-based exposure analysis. Global positioning system technology appears promising in the delineation of children’s time-location patterns. Key words: children, exposure, GPS, organophosphates, pesticides. Environ Health Perspect 113: 1455-1462 (2005) . doi:10.1289/ehp.7674 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 24 June 2005]
This article is part of the mini-monograph “Lessons Learned from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Centers for Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research for the National Children’s Study.” Address correspondence to R. Fenske, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Box 357234, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA. Telephone: (206) 543-0916. Fax: (206) 616-2687. E-mail: rfenske@u.washington.edu The National Children’s Study provided support for the preparation of the manuscript. The Children’s Center studies were supported by grants ES009605, ES009601, ES009584, and ES009600 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science and R826709, R826886, R827039, and R827027 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) . University of Washington Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center studies were supported by grants R819186, 916001537, and R82517101 from the U.S. EPA and S147-14/16 and U07/CCU012926 from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Association of Schools of Public Health and Agricultural Centers Program) . The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 12 October 2004 ; accepted 24 May 2005.
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