Citation:

FORTMANN, R. C., M. K. MORGAN, AND N. S. TULVE. CHILDREN'S EXPOSURES TO ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING CHEMICALS. Presented at EDC Program Review, Research Triangle Park, NC, December 13 - 15, 2004.

Impact/Purpose:

The overall objectives of CTEPP were to measure the aggregate exposures of approximately 260 preschool children and their adult caregivers to low levels of a suite of pesticides and organic pollutants that the children may encounter in their everyday environments, and to apportion the routes of exposure and estimate the relative contributions of each route.

Description:

EPA is committed to protecting children's health by identifying, assessing, and reducing the risks from chemicals present in the air they breathe, food they eat, water they drink, and surfaces they touch. The Agency is committed to understanding the extent of children's exposures to EDCs and the factors that affect their exposures. Two large children's exposure studies have been designed to collect data that will improve our understanding of young childrens exposures to chemicals that are potential EDCs. The two studies address exposures of children from birth to approximately 5 years of age, include exposures in residential and child care settings, and address a number of different classes of chemicals. The Childrens Total Exposure to Persistent Pesticides and Other Persistent Organic Pollutants (CTEPP) study (completed in 2002) is one of the largest aggregate exposure studies of preschool children in the U.S. In this landmark study, the exposures of about 260 children (ages 2 to 5 years) to persistent and non-persistent organic chemicals were measured in homes and child care centers in North Carolina and Ohio. The targeted chemicals included polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCs), pyrethroid pesticides, alkyl phenols, and phthalates. Measurements were performed to determine the important sources, pathways, and routes of exposure for these preschool children. Results of the study showed that there were low levels of many chemicals, including potential EDCs (e.g. chlordane, bisphenol-A), in both the homes and child care centers. Bisphenol-A, for example, was measured in 65% of the indoor air samples Chlordane was detected in over 85% of the indoor air and dust samples collected in the study. Median concentrations of gamma-chlordane, as an example, were 1.5 ng/m³ in indoor air and 31 ng/g in dust samples collected in homes and 0.78 ng/m³ in indoor air and 67 ng/g in dust samples collected in child care centers in North Carolina. Dietary ingestion was shown to be the most important route of exposure for many chemicals, including bisphenol-A. The CTEPP data will be complemented by data collected in the Children's Environmental Exposure Research Study (CHEERS), to be initiated in the spring of 2005. Data will be collected in CHEERS for children under three years of age, filling a critical data gap for young children. Measurements will be performed for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), phthalates, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and a large suite of synthetic pyrethroid pesticides. This large children's exposure study will involve repeated visits to the home of each study child up to six times over a two-year period in order to evaluate the impact of the children's age and activities on their exposures. Like CTEPP, data will be analyzed to determine the extent of exposure, the important routes of exposure, and the factors that have the greatest impact on children's exposures to chemicals in their homes.

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Record Details: