221771 Family Occupational Pesticide Exposure in the Fresh-cut Flower Industry and Acetylcholinesterase Concentrations in Children

Monday, November 8, 2010

Jose R. Suarez-Lopez, MPH, MD , School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
David Jacobs Jr., PhD , School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
John Himes, PhD , School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Bruce H. Alexander, PhD , Regional Injury Prevention Research Center, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
DeAnn Lazovich, PhD , Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Megan Gunnar, PhD , Institute Of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
  
Children of pesticide exposed workers are at risk of secondary pesticide exposure. We evaluated the potential for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) suppression from organophosphate and carbamate insecticide exposure in children of fresh-cut flower industry workers. In-person parental home surveys were performed and AChE and hemoglobin concentrations were measured using the EQM TestMate system in 313 children aged 3-10 y in the Effects of Secondary Pesticide Exposures in Infants, Children and Adolescents (ESPINA) study. Participants lived in a rural county in Ecuador with one of the highest concentrations of flower plantations per capita worldwide. RESULTS: Cohabitation with a flower worker (55% of participants) was associated with a mean AChE decrease of 0.1 U/ml, p=0.049 (overall mean 3.14 U/ml, standard deviation (SD) 0.49), after adjustment for gender, age, height-for-age, hemoglobin, parish of residence, income, pesticide use within household lot, and pesticide use by contiguous neighbors. Flower worker cohabitation was associated with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.84 (95%CI 1.09-7.39) of having low (within the first octile) AChE concentration and 2.73 (95%CI 1.18-6.29) of AChE levels within the first vs. third tertile. Duration of cohabitation with a flower worker (mean 3.8 y, standard deviation 3.2 y) was inversely associated with AChE (p-trend=0.04); OR 1.22 (1.06-1.4) of having AChE levels within the first vs. third tertile per year of cohabitation. CONCLUSIONS: Cohabitation with a flower worker was related to AChE suppression in children. This supports the hypothesis that indirect pesticide exposure from flower workers suffices to depress acetylcholinesterase concentration, with greater suppression due to longer exposure.

Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and prevention
Environmental health sciences
Epidemiology
Occupational health and safety

Learning Objectives:
Describe the association between children’s acetylcholinesterase concentration and cohabitation with flower plantation workers. Discuss potential mechanisms of acetylcholinesterase suppression associated with duration of cohabitation with a flower plantation worker. Discuss potential routes of secondary exposure for children of flower plantation workers.

Keywords: Pesticide Exposure, Child Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Principal Investigator of the ESPINA study. This study is based on ESPINA study data.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3085.0: Student Achievement Poster Session for the Environment Section