Assessing environmental exposures: State-of-the-art approaches for dust contamination

The National Children's Study Program Office is evaluating the how, when, and where of dust collection with the goal of optimizing environmental measurements for assessment in the National Children's Study. Projects are underway to inform study design and these include 1) analyzing the stability over time of environmental contaminants in dust samples; 2) assessing different kinds of dust collection procedures, including participant collection of dust samples; and 3) determining the correlation in dust between pesticides and other environmental contaminants in rural and urban settings while controlling for floor type covering, dust collection method, and lifestyle. Dr. Dellarco is the Program Officer for the National Children's Study, where he serves as the coordinator for environmental monitoring leading the design and development of environmental measurements for application in the National Children's Study. He works within the National Children's Study Program Office, which directs the implementation of the day-to-day operations of the Study. The Program Office houses scientists, staff on detail assignment from other organizations, program analysts, and contractors. Ultimately, the National Children's Study will be one of the richest research efforts geared towards studying children's health and development and will form the basis of child health guidance, interventions, and policy for generations to come.