Improved Pesticide Safety Training and Reduced Pesticide Exposure: Results of a Biomarker Study

In recent years, urinary biomarkers of pesticide metabolites have increasingly been used to describe patterns of exposure occurring in occupational and environmental settings. Few studies have used these biomarkers as effectiveness outcomes in intervention studies aimed to decrease exposure. As part of a community-based participatory research project we recruited 30 nursery workers who reported they spoke an indigenous language and randomly assigned them to a training intervention provided by community promotoras speaking and understanding indigenous languages. Urinary metabolite levels of 5 dialkylphosphates were obtained at baseline and 2-3 weeks post training and compared to 32 indigenous workers who did not receive the specialized training. All of the farmworkers had detectable levels of metabolites at baseline with DMTP and DMP detected in 86% of the samples. At baseline, metabolite levels were significantly correlated with age (r=0.301, p=0.018, n=62), but this correlation was not observed after training. Levels of metabolites decreased at post test for both the intervention and control groups even though the workers reported that pesticide use had increased in the nurseries during that time period. In the intervention group, 65% of the intervention group had lower metabolite levels compared to only 46% in the control group (Chi-square=1.793, df=1, n=49, p=0.181). Other factors potentially influencing results will be discussed including gender, work characteristics, and pesticide safety knowledge level.