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An Updated Algorithm for Estimation of Pesticide Exposure Intensity in the Agricultural Health Study
Citation:
Coble, J., K. W. THOMAS, C. J. Hines, J. HOPPIN, M. Dosemeci, B. Curwin, J. Lubin, L. B. Freeman, A. Blair, D. SANDLER, AND M. Alavanja. An Updated Algorithm for Estimation of Pesticide Exposure Intensity in the Agricultural Health Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland, 8(12):4608-4622, (2011).
Impact/Purpose:
The National Exposure Research Laboratory′s (NERL) Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) conducts research in support of EPA′s mission to protect human health and the environment. HEASD′s research program supports Goal 1 (Clean Air) and Goal 4 (Healthy People) of EPA′s strategic plan. More specifically, our division conducts research to characterize the movement of pollutants from the source to contact with humans. Our multidisciplinary research program produces Methods, Measurements, and Models to identify relationships between and characterize processes that link source emissions, environmental concentrations, human exposures, and target-tissue dose. The impact of these tools is improved regulatory programs and policies for EPA.
Description:
An algorithm developed to estimate pesticide exposure intensity for use in epidemiologic analyses was revised based on data from two exposure monitoring studies. In the first study, we estimated relative exposure intensity based on the results of measurements taken during the application of the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) (n = 88) and the insecticide chlorpyrifos (n = 17). Modifications to the algorithm weighting factors were based on geometric means (GM) of post-application urine concentrations for applicators grouped by application method and use of chemically-resistant (CR) gloves. Measurement data from a second study were also used to evaluate relative exposure levels associated with airblast as compared to hand spray application methods. Algorithm modifications included an increase in the exposure reduction factor for use of CR gloves from 40% to 60%, an increase in the application method weight for boom spray relative to in-furrow and for air blast relative to hand spray, and a decrease in the weight for mixing relative to the new weights assigned for application methods. The weighting factors for the revised algorithm now incorporate exposure measurements taken on Agricultural Health Study (AHS) participants for the application methods and personal protective equipment (PPE) commonly reported by study participants.
URLs/Downloads:
An Updated Algorithm for Estimation of Pesticide Exposure Intensity in the Agricultural Health Study (PDF, NA pp, 115 KB, about PDF)International Journal of Envrionmental Research & Public Health
