Grantee Research Project Results

Project B: Exposure Project: Mn, DDT/E and PBDE Exposure to Farmworker Children

EPA Grant Number: R834513C002
Subproject: this is subproject number 002 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R834513
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: Center for Research on Early Childhood Exposure and Development in Puerto Rico
Center Director: Alshawabkeh, Akram
Title: Project B: Exposure Project: Mn, DDT/E and PBDE Exposure to Farmworker Children
Investigators: Eskenazi, Brenda
Current Investigators: Eskenazi, Brenda , Harley, Kim , Holland, Nina T. , Jerrett, Michael , Sjodin, Andreas , Arora, Manish , Smith, Donald , Eisen, Ellen , Molitor, John , Hubbard, Alan , Lustig, Robert
Institution: University of California - Berkeley
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: August 1, 2009 through July 31, 2014 (Extended to July 31, 2017)
RFA: Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers (with NIEHS) (2009) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Children's Health , Human Health

Objective:

Children of farmworkers in California are exposed to a unique mix of chemicals, including polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants, which are prevalent in California due to the state's strict flammability standards; manganese (Mn), which is a key component of the widely used agricultural fungicides maneb and mancozeb, and the pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), which was recently used in Mexico where most of their farmworker parents originated. In this proposal, we continue our ongoing research into developing state-of-the-art methods of assessing children's environmental exposures to neurotoxic and endocrine-disrupting compounds and characterizing children's levels, sources, and routes of exposure. We propose to use shed deciduous teeth to develop and validate new biomarkers of prenatal and early postnatal exposure to Mn and will explore whether PBDEs and DDT/E can also be measured in teeth. Using our extensive biorepository of banked prenatal and early postnatal samples, we will determine the relationship between Mn, PBDE, and DDT/E levels in teeth with levels in blood, urine, and breast milk. We will quantify the sources of children's Mn exposure by measuring levels of Mn in 450 house dust samples collected during the prenatal period and identifying factors that explain these levels, including farmwork of household members, nearby agricultural maneb and mancozeb use, traffic intensity, industrial emissions, and wind patterns.

Expected Results:

We will examine these factors, as well as diet, in relation to prenatal and early postnatal Mn levels measured in teeth from CHAMACOS children (n=300) and childhood Mn levels measured in blood from CHAMACOS boys collected at age 9 (n=300). We will use innovative GIS methods, remote sensing technology, and Bayesian modeling to build statistical and predictive models of Mn exposure. Finally, we propose to identify population-level correlates of PBDE and DDT/E exposure measured in blood collected from 9-year-old boys (n=300). Factors of interest include diet, breastfeeding history, consumer electronic use, SES, child BMI, time outside the US, household characteristics, and housing quality. This proposal utilizes a ricli dataset and biorepository of information on Mexican-American children participating in the CHAMACOS longitudinal birth cohort in the Salinas Valley, California. Novel methods developed under this proposal have the potential to revolutionize our ability to assess prenatal and,early postnatal exposures in epidemiologic studies of children's environmental health.

Publications and Presentations:

Publications have been submitted on this subproject: View all 108 publications for this subproject | View all 697 publications for this center

Journal Articles:

Journal Articles have been submitted on this subproject: View all 42 journal articles for this subproject | View all 169 journal articles for this center

Supplemental Keywords:

Exposure assessment, environmental, disease, toxin, health effects, child health, biomarkers, epigenetic, DNA methylation, reproductive health, neurobehavioral health, pubertal onset, metabolic syndrome, obesity, cognition, attention, memory, motor, executive function, social cognition, infants, children, latino, farmworker, agriculture, pesticide, fungicide, PBDE, DDT, Mn, California, CA, Salinas Valley, community-based, deciduous teeth, back-extrapolation, GIS, maternal,, Health, RFA, Scientific Discipline, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, Health Risk Assessment, Environmental Policy, Biology, Children's Health, biological markers, harmful environmental agents, pesticide exposure, agricultural community, flame retardants, neurochemical effects, PBDE, children's vulnerablity, farmworkers

Progress and Final Reports:

Main Center Abstract and Reports:

R834513 Center for Research on Early Childhood Exposure and Development in Puerto Rico

Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R834513C001 CHAMACOS Cohort Project: Pesticides and PBDE on Neurobehavior and Puberty
R834513C002 Project B: Exposure Project: Mn, DDT/E and PBDE Exposure to Farmworker Children
R834513C003 Epigenetics Project
R834513C004 Community Outreach and Translation Core

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.