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COCKROACHES, PESTICIDE USE, AND CHILDREN'S PULMONARY FUNCTION IN AN ARID COMMUNITY
Citation:
Svendsen, E., M. Ross, M Gonzales, D Walsh, S Rhoney, G. Terrill, AND L Neas. COCKROACHES, PESTICIDE USE, AND CHILDREN'S PULMONARY FUNCTION IN AN ARID COMMUNITY. Presented at American Thoracic Society, Orlando, FL, May 21-26, 2004.
Description:
Cockroaches, pesticide use, and children's pulmonary function in an arid community
Erik Svendsen1, Mary Ross1, Melissa Gonzales2, Debra Walsh1, Scott Rhoney1, Gina Terrill1, Lucas Neas1
1US EPA, Chapel Hill, NC; 2University of New Mexico
The El Paso Children's Health Study examined environmental risk factors for allergy and asthma among fourth and fifth grade schoolchildren living in a major United States-Mexico border city. Complete questionnaire information and acceptable pulmonary function data were available for 1752 children. Pulmonary function measures were adjusted for sex, race, height, weight, age, interactions between sex & height and weight & hispanic ethnicity, parental education, questionnaire language, duration of residency, atopy, and current asthma. In this arid community, only 21% of the children lived in a home with reported cockroaches and 86% of these families reported pesticide use in the last year. Among non-users of pesticides, cockroach exposure was associated with a decrease in peak expiratory flow (-5.2%, 95% CI -7.7, -2.7). When cockroaches were observed in the home, recent pesticide use was associated with higher peak expiratory flows (+9.2%, 95% CI 6.3, 12.1). In homes without reported cockroaches, pesticide use only had a modest improvement on peak flow (+1.4%, 95% CI 0.3, 2.4). These effects on pulmonary function were present even after the exclusion of children with a current physician's diagnosis of asthma. Thus practical levels of cockroach control appear to have a beneficial effect on all children's pulmonary function levels. This abstract does not necessarily represent EPA policy.