Abstract |
In an effort to facilitate more realistic risk assessments that take into account unique childhood vulnerabilities to environmental toxicants, the U.S. EPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) developed a framework for systematically identifying and addressing the most important sources, routes, and pathways of children's exposure to pesticides. Four priority research areas were identified as representing critical data gaps in our understanding of environmental risks to children. Several targeted studies were conducted under NERL's childrens exposure research program to specifically address these priority research needs. This document is a comprehensive summary report of data collected in these studies to address the priority research needs and is intended for an audience of exposure scientists, exposure modelers, and risk assessors. The parameters measured and the measurement methods are described. Data on representative organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides are compared across studies and across compounds with the primary purpose of identifying or evaluating important factors influencing exposures along each relevant pathway. Summary statistics, comparative analyses, and spatial and temporal patterns are presented to address previously identified data gaps. Results are compared across studies in order to identify trends that might provide a better understanding of the factors affecting children's exposures. While highlights of the results of individual studies are presented, the focus is on presenting insights gleaned from the analysis of the aggregated data from several studies. By examining relationships among application patterns, exposures, and biomarkers for multiple compounds from different classes of pesticides, this report strives to help produce more reliable approaches for assessing cumulative exposure. |