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Quantifying Children's Aggregate (Dietary and Residential) Exposure and Dose to Permethin: Application and Evaluation of EPA's Probabilistic SHED-Multimedia Model
Citation:
ZARTARIAN, V. G., J. XUE, G. Glen, L. SMITH, N. S. TULVE, AND R. TORNERO-VELEZ. Quantifying Children's Aggregate (Dietary and Residential) Exposure and Dose to Permethin: Application and Evaluation of EPA's Probabilistic SHED-Multimedia Model. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology . Nature Publishing Group, London, Uk, 22(3):267-273, (2012).
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:
Reliable, evaluated human exposure and dose models are important for understanding the health risks from chemicals. A case study focusing on permethrin was conducted because of this insecticide’s widespread use and potential health effects. SHEDS-Multimedia was applied to estimate US population permethrin exposures for 3- to 5-year-old children from residential, dietary, and combined exposure routes, using available dietary consumption data, food residue data, residential concentrations, and exposure factors. Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses were conducted to identify key factors, pathways, and research needs. Model evaluation was conducted using duplicate diet data and biomonitoring data from multiple field studies, and comparison to other models. Key exposure variables were consumption of spinach, lettuce, and cabbage; surface-to-skin transfer efficiency; hand mouthing frequency; fraction of hand mouthed; saliva removal efficiency; fraction of house treated; and usage frequency. For children in households using residential permethrin, the non-dietary exposure route was most important, and when all households were included, dietary exposure dominated. SHEDS-Multimedia model estimates compared well to real-world measurements data; this exposure assessment tool can enhance human health risk assessments and inform children’s health research. The case study provides insights into children’s aggregate exposures to permethrin and lays the foundation for a future cumulative pyrethroid pesticides risk assessment.
URLs/Downloads:
Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology
Quantifying Childrens Aggregate Dietary and Residential Exposure and Dose to Permethin: Application and Evaluation of EPAs (PDF, NA pp, 107 KB, about PDF)