Grantee Research Project Results

2005 Progress Report: Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research – Pesticide Exposure Assessment Project

EPA Grant Number: R831710C002
Subproject: this is subproject number 002 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R831710
(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: Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research – Pesticide Exposure Assessment Project
Investigators: McKone, Thomas
Current Investigators: McKone, Thomas , Barr, Dana Boyd , Bradman, Asa , Harnly, Martha
Institution: University of California - Berkeley
EPA Project Officer: Callan, Richard
Project Period: May 1, 2004 through October 31, 2008 (Extended to October 31, 2010)
Project Period Covered by this Report: May 1, 2005 through October 31, 2006
RFA: Centers for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research (2003) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Children's Health , Human Health

Objective:

The objectives of this research project are to: (1) measure exposure to organophosphate (OP) metabolite levels in women during pregnancy and postpartum; (2) analyze housing quality; (3) study cumulative risk assessment; (4) develop novel modeling approaches for assessing dermal doses of pesticides from intermittent contacts in the residential environment; and (5) characterize household behaviors potentially associated with pesticide exposure in pregnant women.

Progress Summary:

We found that OP metabolite levels in women during pregnancy and postpartum were higher than national reference data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). We also found that OP metabolite levels collected postpartum were about twice as high as levels during pregnancy. We hypothesize that significant changes in maternal physiology after giving birth may affect the internal distribution of pesticides and other toxicants.

Housing quality was very poor in the homes of Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) participants. We found a high prevalence of cockroach and rodent infestations, mold, peeling paint, water damage, and so forth. Homes with housing disrepair indicators had higher rates of pest infestations. Compared to a national survey by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), CHAMACOS participants were more likely to have rodents, peeling paint, leaks under sinks, and much higher residential densities. Pesticides were stored or used in about 50 percent of the households.

We applied new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cumulative risk assessment guidelines for OPs to the CHAMACOS population. About 15 percent of pregnant women participating in the CHAMACOS project may have cumulative OP pesticide exposures which exceeded a health-based benchmark dose.

Results show that a power law represents the relationship between cumulative contact time and cumulative mass transport through the skin.

Future Activities:

Plans call for comparing model results to average urinary OP pesticide metabolite levels to determine how accurately the models can track seasonal and regional exposure variations.

Journal Articles:

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

Supplemental Keywords:

dialkyl phosphate, environmental management, health, pesticides, children’s health, health risk assessment, pesticide types, risk assessment, human health risk assessment, agricultural community, airway disease, allergen, assessment of exposure, childhood respiratory disease, children’s environmental health, community-based intervention, environmental health hazard, environmental risks, exposure assessment, health effects, insecticides, outreach and education, pesticide exposure,, RFA, Health, Scientific Discipline, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, PESTICIDES, Health Risk Assessment, Children's Health, Pesticide Types, Risk Assessment, health effects, pesticide exposure, community-based intervention, airway disease, environmental risks, respiratory problems, Human Health Risk Assessment, assessment of exposure, childhood respiratory disease, insecticides, children's environmental health, environmental health hazard, outreach and education, agricultural community, allergen

Relevant Websites:

http://ehs.sph.berkeley.edu/chamacos Exit

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

Main Center Abstract and Reports:

R831710 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).
R831710C001 Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research – CHAMACOS Community Based Research Project
R831710C002 Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research – Pesticide Exposure Assessment Project
R831710C003 Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research – Mechanisms of Pesticide Neuro- and Immunotoxicity
R831710C004 Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research – 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.