2006 Progress Report: Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research – Pesticide Exposure Assessment Project
EPA Grant Number: R831710C002Subproject: this is subproject number 002 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R831710
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: University of California Berkeley Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research
Center Director: Eskenazi, Brenda
Title: Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research – Pesticide Exposure Assessment Project
Investigators: McKone, Thomas , Barr, Dana , Bradman, Asa , Harnly, Martha
Institution: University of California - Berkeley
EPA Project Officer: Fields, Nigel
Project Period: May 1, 2004 through October 31, 2008 (Extended to October 31, 2010)
Project Period Covered by this Report: May 1, 2006 through October 31, 2007
RFA: Centers for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research (2003)
Research Category: Children's Health , Health Effects
Description:
Objective:The Specific aims of this project are:
- to evaluate changes in maternal OP pesticide tissue distributions immediately before and after birth.
- to determine the best and most convenient matrix for assessing exposure to organophosphate pesticides in children.
- to quantify the relative contribution of diet to children’s OP pesticide exposures in agricultural and urban communities.
- to characterize urinary OP pesticide metabolite levels in preschool and school-aged children and identify correlates of exposure.
- Samples stored in the Center biorepository have also been used to obtain support for pilot and larger scale exposure studies.
Specific Aim 1. to evaluate changes in maternal OP pesticide tissue distributions immediately before and after birth: We measured six dialkyl phosphate (DAP) urinary metabolites of organophosphate (OP) pesticides in 600 pregnant, low-income CHAMACOS mothers living in the agricultural Salinas Valley, California (Bradman et al, 2005). A total of 28% were employed as farm field workers during pregnancy and 81% had at least one household member who worked in agriculture. Samples were collected twice during pregnancy (means = 13 and 26 weeks gestation) and just after delivery (mean = 9 days). Median metabolite levels at the first and second prenatal sampling points and at the postpartum collection were 102.8, 106.8 and 227.2 nmol/L, respectively, showing higher levels in the post-partum period. Both prenatal and postpartum metabolite levels were higher in these women than in women of childbearing age in the general U.S. population (NHANES).
Higher DAP metabolite levels in the immediate postpartum period may have implications for estimating dose during pregnancy and for exposure during lactation. We are currently planning intensive biological sampling in a group of pregnant women before birth, at birth, and immediately following birth to examine these trends in more detail. IRB review and hospital negotiations are in progress.
Specific Aim 2: to determine the best and most convenient matrix for assessing exposure to organophosphate pesticides in children. Serial spot and 24 hour samples have been collected for 25 children. Data analysis of within and between variability is in progress.
Specific Aim 3: to quantify the relative contribution of diet to children’s OP pesticide exposures in agricultural and urban communities.
Specific Aim 4: to characterize urinary OP pesticide metabolite levels in preschool and school-aged children and identify correlates of exposure. Preliminary results from our analysis of DAP metabolite levels in children aged 6, 12, and 24 months indicate that exposure is predominantly to dimethyl (versus diethyl) metabolites. Dimethyl levels increase with age and are higher in boys at older ages. Dimethyl and diethyl levels are higher in children who eat more fruits and vegetables and are lower in children living in homes where agricultural workers store their work clothes in sealed containers. Levels in younger children were also higher during the summer season, compared to winter.
Maternal Exposures
We found that levels of organochlorine pesticides DDT, DDE, hexachlorobenze and β-hexachlorocyclohexane were higher in the CHAMACOS cohort of pregnant women compared to general U.S. women. Time spent living outside the United States and birthplace in an area of Mexico with recent use of OC pesticides were significant predictors of exposure. For DDT and DDE, levels in women from coastal Mexico, where DDT was used more recently for agriculture and malaria control, were significantly higher than levels in women from central Mexico. Lactation history and recent weight gain were negatively associated with serum levels of some, but not all OC compounds studied. The weight of evidence from this study indicates that most exposure occurred prior to moving to the United States (Bradman et al in press).
A pilot study of polybrominated diphenyl ethers levels in a subset of 20 CHAMACOS women was completed (Bradman et al, in press). The overall PBDE levels in these women were lower than levels observed in other U.S. populations, but higher than those observed in Europe or Japan. Consistent with other studies, BDE-47 was found at the highest concentration (median=11 ng/g lipid; range=2.5-210) followed by BDE-99, BDE-100 and BDE-153 congeners. The BDE 99 to BDE 47 ratio was highest in women living <5 years in the U.S. compared to women who living >5 years in the U.S. (p<0.01).
Children’s Exposures
Investigators completed data analysis of the Quantitative Exposure Assessment (QEA) Study, in collaboration with US EPA. Pesticides were detected more frequently in house dust, surface wipes, and clothing than in air, toys, and food. Chlorpyrifos, diazinon, chlorthal-dimethyl, and cis- and trans-permethrin were detected in 90-100% of samples. Levels of 4 of 5 pesticides were positively correlated among the house dust, sock, and union suit samples (Spearman’s rho =0.18 to 0.76). Pesticide loading on socks and union suits was higher for the 10 toddlers compared to the 10 younger crawling children (Table 5). A child activity timeline, a novel, low-literacy instrument based on pictures, was successfully used by our participants. These data will be used for modeling pesticide exposure and risk assessment (Bradman et al. in press).
Pathways of Exposure
Investigators completed a descriptive paper of exposure prone behavior of infants and toddlers in the farmworker community. High mouthing frequencies of short duration were found with a median hand-to-mouth frequency of 15.2 events/hour and a median object-to-mouth frequency of 27.2 events/hour. The median mouthing duration with hands and objects was 2 seconds. The median contact frequency for both hands combined was 689.4 events/hour with a median contact duration of 3 seconds. Sub-group differences indicate these factors should be accounted for when conducting exposure assessments. Infants had higher mouthing frequencies with non-dietary objects while toddlers had higher mouthing frequencies with objects associated with pica (i.e., paper). Boys had higher contact frequencies while girls had longer contact durations. Contact frequencies in the current study are much higher than current U.S. EPA recommendations, questioning their protective value for infants and toddlers (Beamer et al, submitted).
Investigators determined that local pesticide use is strongly correlated with ambient air levels (Harnly et al 2005). Investigators completed a region-scale model of pesticide exposure in pregnant women. Inputs to the model include CHAMACOS biomonitoring data, California pesticide use reporting (PUR) data, and environmental samples together with outputs from the CalTOX multimedia, multipathway source-to-dose model. Both model results and biomarker comparisons support the observation that, relative to NHANES, the CHAMACOS population has a statistically significant added intake of OP pesticides with low inter-individual variability. We attribute the magnitude and small variance of this intake to residential non-dietary exposures attributable to local agricultural OP uses. These results show that mass-balance models can estimate exposures for OP pesticides within the range measured by biological monitoring (McKone et al, submitted).
Future Activities:We will finish the Organic Diet Study in September and begin the Peripartum Excretion Study later in the fall.
Journal Articles on this Report : 7 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other subproject views: | All 27 publications | 16 publications in selected types | All 16 journal articles |
Other center views: | All 119 publications | 72 publications in selected types | All 69 journal articles |
Type | Citation | ||
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Alkon A, Lippert S, Vujan N, Rodriquez ME, Boyce WT, Eskenazi B. The ontogeny of autonomic measures in 6-and 12-month-old infants. Developmental Psychobiology 2006;48(3):197-208. |
R831710 (2005) R831710C001 (2006) R831710C001 (2007) R831710C002 (2006) |
not available |
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Duramad P, Harley K, Lipsett M, Bradman A, Eskenazi B, Holland NT, Tager IB. Early environmental exposures and intracellular Th1/Th2 cytokine profiles in 24-month-old children living in an agricultural area. Environmental Health Perspectives 2006;114(12):1916-1922. |
R831710 (2005) R831710C001 (2006) R831710C001 (2007) R831710C002 (2006) R831710C003 (2006) R831710C003 (2007) |
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Eskenazi B, Gladstone EA, Berkowitz GS, Drew CH, Faustman EM, Holland NT, Lanphear B, Meisel SJ, Perera FP, Rauh VA, Sweeney A, Whyatt RM, Yolton K. Methodologic and logistic issues in conducting longitudinal birth cohort studies: lessons learned from the Centers for Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research. Environmental Health Perspectives 2005;113(10):1419-1429. |
R831710 (2005) R831710C001 (2006) R831710C002 (2006) R827027 (2002) R829389 (2003) R829389 (2004) R829389 (2005) R829390 (2005) R831709 (2005) R831709C001 (2004) R831711 (2005) R831711 (2006) R831711C001 (2006) R831711C002 (2004) R831711C002 (2006) R831711C003 (2006) R832141 (2005) |
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Eskenazi B, Marks AR, Bradman A, Fenster L, Johnson C, Barr DB, Jewll NP. In utero exposure to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and neurodevelopment among young Mexican American children. Pediatrics 2006;118(1):233-241. |
R831710 (2005) R831710C001 (2006) R831710C002 (2006) |
not available |
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Fenster L, Eskenazi B, Anderson M, Bradman A, Harley K, Hernandez H, Hubbard A, Barr DB. Association of in utero organochlorine pesticide exposure and fetal growth and length of gestation in an agricultural population. Environmental Health Perspectives 2006;114(4):597-602. |
R831710 (2004) R831710 (2005) R831710C001 (2006) R831710C001 (2007) R831710C002 (2006) |
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Harley K, Eskenazi B. Time in the United States, social support and health behaviors during pregnancy among women of Mexican descent. Social Science & Medicine 2006;62(12):3048-3061. |
R831710 (2004) R831710 (2005) R831710C001 (2006) R831710C001 (2007) R831710C002 (2006) |
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Israel BA, Parker EA, Rowe Z, Salvatore A, Minkler M, Lopez J, Butz A, Mosley A, Coates L, Lambert G, Potito PA, Brenner B, Rivera M, Romero H, Thompson B, Coronado G, Halstead S. Community-based participatory research: lessons learned from the Centers for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research. Environmental Health Perspectives 2005;113(10):1463-1471. |
R831710 (2004) R831710 (2005) R831710C001 (2006) R831710C002 (2006) R831710C004 (2006) R826710 (Final) R829391 (2004) R829391 (2005) R829391 (2006) R829391C005 (2006) R831709 (2005) R831709C003 (2005) R831709C003 (2006) R831711 (2005) R831711 (2006) R831711 (2007) R831711C001 (2006) R831711C002 (2006) R831711C003 (2006) R832139 (2006) |
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exposure, pesticides, pregnant women, children, organophosphate, DDT, agriculture,
,
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Scientific Discipline, Health, RFA, PESTICIDES, Risk Assessment, Health Risk Assessment, Children's Health, Pesticide Types, exposure assessment, insecticides, allergen, health effects, respiratory problems, children's environmental health, assessment of exposure, childhood respiratory disease, outreach and education, agricultural community, community-based intervention, pesticide exposure, airway disease, environmental risks, environmental health hazard
Relevant Websites:
Progress and Final Reports:
2004 Progress Report
2005 Progress Report
Original Abstract
2007 Progress Report
Main Center Abstract and Reports:
R831710 University of California Berkeley Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research
Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R831710C001 Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research – CHAMACOS Community Based Research Project
R831710C002 Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research – Pesticide Exposure Assessment Project
R831710C003 Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research – Mechanisms of Pesticide Neuro- and Immunotoxicity
R831710C004 Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research – Community Outreach and Translation Core