Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #117456

Martha Harnly, MPH¹, Asa Bradman, PhD², Marcia Nishioka³, Robert McLaughlin, MS¹, Meredith Anderson, MPH¹, and Brenda Eskenazi, PhD². (1) Environmental Health Investigations Branch, California Department of Health Services, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 1700, Oakland, CA 94612, 510-622-4484, mharnly@dhs.ca.gov, (2) Center for Children's Environmental Health Research, University of California, Berkeley, 2150 Shattuck Ave, Suite 600, Berkeley, CA 94720, (3) Battelle Institute, 505 King Avenue, Columbus, OH 43201

Household dust serves as a sink or reservoir for pesticides. Yet the sources and pathways for levels in pesticide dust are unclear. In an area of intense agriculture, the Salinas Valley, California, we collected dust from 241 homes and analyzed them for 24 pesticides as part of a longitudinal cohort study of mothers and children (the CHAMACOS study). Diazinon and chlorpyrifos (organophosphate insecticides), chlorthal-dimethyl (a chlorinated phthalate herbicide) and permethrins were each detected in 60% or more of samples. Relationships with dust levels and questionnaire and home visit information were examined. In bivariate analysis, median levels of chlorthal-dimethyl are statistically significantly higher in dust from homes within 200 feet of an agricultural field, where agricultural workers live, and in homes where agricultural workers store their clothes inside the home (p<0.01). We also summed agricultural pesticide use, which is reported in California, within a 1.5 mile radius of each home within 14, 30, 60, 90, and 120 days of dust collection. For chlorthal-dimethyl, correlations are statistically significant (Spearman correlation coefficients=0.32-0.49, p<0.001). The significant findings for chlorthal-dimethyl may, in part, be due to longer persistence of this pesticide in the environment compared to the organophosphates. Multivariate statistical models will be presented. Our results suggest that agricultural pesticide use is impacting children's residential exposures.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify two reasons why house dust serves as a reservoir for pesticides.
• List three types of pesticides that have been found in housedust.
• Identify behavioral factors that may be associated with elevated pesticide levels in housedust.
• Understand whether there is evidence to suggest that agricultural pesticide use is impacting household dust levels.

Keywords: Pesticide Exposure, Rural Populations

Related Web page: ehs.sph.berkeley.edu/chamacos/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.