Grantee Research Project Results

2001 Progress Report: A Comprehensive Assessment of Sources of Pesticide Contamination, Concentrations in Pathways, and Exposure-prone Behavior

EPA Grant Number: R826709C003
Subproject: this is subproject number 003 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R826709
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment - 2015
Center Director: Metayer, Catherine
Title: A Comprehensive Assessment of Sources of Pesticide Contamination, Concentrations in Pathways, and Exposure-prone Behavior
Investigators: Eskenazi, Brenda , McKone, Thomas
Institution: University of California - Berkeley
EPA Project Officer: Callan, Richard
Project Period: January 1, 1998 through January 1, 2002
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 1, 2000 through January 1, 2001
Project Amount: Refer to main center abstract for funding details.
RFA: Centers for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research (1998) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Children's Health , Human Health

Objective:

The objective is to evaluate the impact of “Healthy Homes” interventions on the reduction of pesticide exposure to farmworker children.

Progress Summary:

Focus groups were held in January and February 2001 with farmworkers, foremen/women, and growers to prioritize intervention study ideas and determine their feasibility. These focus groups helped guide a successful grant submitted to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to provide additional funding for the intervention study. Additionally, statistical analysis of prenatal home visit and baseline questionnaire data is in progress that will support the planned intervention activities.

Research Changes

As discussed in earlier annual reports, we reduced the Intervention Study to a pilot project due to increased costs associated with the implementation of managed care in Monterey County, California. In the last year we conducted a number of focus groups and community contacts to further refine the Intervention Study and prepare additional grants to fully implement our intervention, outreach, and education goals. While an earlier grant to the California Endowment Foundation was not funded due to program priority changes, we successfully prepared an RO1 level application to NIEHS under the Community Based Intervention Research Program. This Intervention Study is modeled on our original Center application but will develop a technical intervention involving protective clothing and handwashing as well as home-based education to address pesticide exposures. Budgeted Intervention resources from the Center grant will support laboratory analysis of environmental and biological samples for the newly funded intervention grant.

New Funded Research and Outreach Initiatives

To accomplish our objective to build a true Center for Children’s Environmental Research, we have initiated the following new research activities to fully utilize the specimens and expertise we have developed:

• We have received an RO1 level award from NIEHS to conduct a fully developed Intervention Study.

• In collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL), we will be conducting intensive environmental sampling for a group of 20 farmworker children. This investigation will include several media in addition to those we originally proposed. See discussion of the Quantitative Pesticide Exposure Assessment (QEA) in the 2001 Annual Report for R826709C001.

Future Activities:

Future activities will include the following:

• Initiate the Intervention Study activities, including focus groups, questionnaire development, data analysis, and pilot studies in support of the technical interventions.

• Finalize Human Subject approvals and initiate blood lead analysis by state health department.

• Ship stored blood samples to the University of Washington for paroxonase polymorphism studies.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 14 publications for this subproject

Supplemental Keywords:

Health, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Toxics, Susceptibility/Sensitive Population/Genetic Susceptibility, Health Risk Assessment, pesticides, Risk Assessments, Biology, genetic susceptability, Environmental Chemistry, Endocrine Disruptors - Human Health, Children's Health, endocrine disruptors, Disease & Cumulative Effects, disease, health effects, Human Health Risk Assessment, sensitive populations, exposure model, human exposure, organophosphate pesticides, pesticide exposure, risk assessment, statistics, prenatal exposure, behavioral assessment, biological response, agricultural community, pesticide residues, children, endocrine disrupting chemicals, exposure, exposure prone behavior, environmental health hazard, pathways, metabolites, assessment of exposure, farmworkers, exposure assessment, exposure pathways

Relevant Websites:

http://www.chamacos.org/ Exit

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

1998

1999 Progress Report

2000 Progress Report

Final

Main Center Abstract and Reports:

R826709    Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment - 2015

Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R826709C001 Community Based Intervention to Reduce Pesticide Exposures to Young Children
R826709C002 The Epidemiological Investigation of the Effects of Pesticide Exposure on Neurodevelopmental, Growth, and Respiratory Health of Farmworker Children
R826709C003 A Comprehensive Assessment of Sources of Pesticide Contamination, Concentrations in Pathways, and Exposure-prone Behavior