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DISTRIBUTIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, AND PARTIAL AGGREGATE EXPOSURE OF PESTICIDES AND POLYNUCLEAR AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS IN THE MINNESOTA CHILDREN'S PESTICIDE EXPOSURE STUDY (MNCPES)
Citation:
Clayton, C. A., E. D. Pellizzari, R. W. Whitmore, J J. Quackenboss, J. L. Adgate, AND K. Sexton. DISTRIBUTIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, AND PARTIAL AGGREGATE EXPOSURE OF PESTICIDES AND POLYNUCLEAR AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS IN THE MINNESOTA CHILDREN'S PESTICIDE EXPOSURE STUDY (MNCPES). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EXPOSURE ANALYSIS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY 13(2):100-111, (2003).
Impact/Purpose:
The NHEXAS analysis projects being conducted by NERL address the following scientific issues/questions:
- Do exposure distributions vary by demographic group?
- What is the impact of censoring (BDL) on multimedia distributions and associations?
- Which questionnaire/diary items are most useful in explaining variability or identifying "high exposure" groups?
- How do exposure classifications and measurements compare in their ability to explain variability in exposures and biomarkers?
- Can changes in exposures over time be explained by dietary and questionnaire/activity information?
- How well do NHEXAS findings compare with existing models/assessments (e.g., NATA)?
Description:
The Minnesota Children's Pesticide Exposure Study (MNCPES) provides exposure, environmental, and biologic data relating to multi-pathway exposures of children for four primary pesticides (chlorpyrifos, malathion, diazinon, and atrazine), 14 secondary pesticides, and 13 polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Monitoring was performed on a probability sample of 102 children aged 3-12 in Minneapolis/St. Paul and in a nearby non-urban area (Goodhue and Rice counties). This paper provides estimated distributions of this population's exposures and exposure-related measurements and examines associations among the various measures via rank (Spearman) correlations. In addition, it provides some aggregate and cumulative exposure estimates for pesticides, and compares the relative intakes from inhalation and dietary ingestion. Intakes for the four primary pesticides appeared to come principally from the ingestion rather than the inhalation route; this was clearly true for chlorpyrifos but was less certain for the other three primary pesticides due to their higher degree of non-detects. Solid food rather than beverages was clearly the main contributor to the ingestion intake. Despite the dominance of the ingestion route, the urinary metabolite of chlorpyrifos exhibited a stronger association with the air measurements than with the dietary measures. Personal air samples exhibited strong rank correlations with indoor air samples for chlorpyrifos, malathion, and diazinon (0.81, 0.51, and 0.62, respectively), while personal-air atrazine levels correlated well with outdoor levels (0.69); diazinon personal air levels also correlated well with outdoor levels (0.67). For the PAHs, many significant associations were evident among the various air samples and for the air samples with the dust samples, especially for those compounds with consistently high percent measurable values (particularly fluoranthene, phenanthrene, and pyrene).
The EPA, through its Office of Research and Development (ORD), partially funded and collaborated in the research described here under assistance agreement number CR821902-01-0 to the Research Triangle Institute and by STAR grant R825283 to the University of Minnesota. It was also partially supported by a grant from the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources. This manuscript has been peer reviewed by EPA and approved for publication.