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LEVELS OF ORGANOPHOSPHATES AND THEIR DEGRADATION PRODUCTS IN THE HOMES, DAY CARE CENTERS, AND URINE OF 127 OHIO PRESCHOOL CHILDREN
Citation:
Morgan, M K., L S. Sheldon, C Croghan, P. A. JONES, N. K. Wilson, J. C. Chuang, AND C. Lyu. LEVELS OF ORGANOPHOSPHATES AND THEIR DEGRADATION PRODUCTS IN THE HOMES, DAY CARE CENTERS, AND URINE OF 127 OHIO PRESCHOOL CHILDREN. Presented at International Society of Exposure Analysis 14th Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA, October 17-21, 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:
This study examined the aggregate exposures of 257 preschool children to pollutants commonly found in their everyday environments. A primary objective of the study was to identify important sources and routes that contribute to the children's exposures in these environments. Participants were recruited randomly from selected homes and day care centers in 12 North Carolina and Ohio counties. Monitoring was performed over a 48-h period at the children's homes and/or day care centers. Samples that were collected included diet, water, air, urine, dust, soil, and surface wipes. The samples were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for over 50 pollutants including chlorpyrifos and diazinon as well as their degradation products 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP) and 2-isopropyl-6-methyl-4-pyrimidinol (IMP). We have reported the preliminary results for the levels of these two organophosphates and their degradation products in multimedia samples collected at the homes (n=127) or day cares (n=16) of 127 Ohio preschool children. The median levels of chlorpyrifos and TCP measured at homes were 52.0 and 41.0 ng/g (dust), 1.7 and 0.6 ng/m3 (indoor air), and 0.2 and 1.9 ng/g (solid food), respectively. At day cares, the median levels of chlorpyrifos and TCP were 174.0 and 57.7 ng/g (dust), 2.1 and 0.7 ng/m3 (indoor air), and 0.1 and 1.5 ng/g (solid food). The median levels of diazinon and IMP at homes were 19.8 and 14.3 ng/g (dust), 1.0 and 0.5 ng/m3 (indoor air), and <0.1 and 0.4 ng/g (solid food), respectively. At day cares, the median levels of diazinon and IMP were 40.0 and 16.7 ng/g (dust), 1.0 and 0.5 ng/m3 (indoor air), and <0.1 and 0.4 ng/g (solid food), respectively. The median TCP concentration in the children's urine was 5.1 ng/mL. The results suggested that pesticides and their metabolites should be simultaneously measured in media, particularly when using these metabolites as urinary biomarkers of exposure.
Although this work was reviewed by EPA and approved for publication, it may not necessarily reflect official Agency policy.