Impact/Purpose:

The primary objective of the NAFTA Border study was to determine if the population of the U.S./Mexico Border area of Arizona are more highly exposed to environmental contaminants than the residents of the state of Arizona as a whole. The NAFTA Border Study will also demonstrate the feasibility of using these measurement processes in future multimedia-multipathway studies along the U.S./Mexico Border.

Description:

There is a perception among the population of the border communities that they have increased exposure due to their proximity to pollution sources in Mexico. This study provides exposure data for the border population that will be compared with data from a probabilistic exposure study of the residents of the entire state of Arizona as part of the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS) Phase I study. The study participants in the border area were selected using the same probabilistic method that was used for the NHEXAS study. The same questionnaires were used and the same analytes and the same media sampled. Additional pollutants were included that are suspected to be significant in the border area.

The field study was conducted in the United States (U.S.)/Mexico border area of Arizona, under a cooperative agreement with the University of Arizona, collecting questionnaire data about home environments and activities. In a subset of these homes, environmental samples (yard soil, house dust, drinking water, food) and biological samples (blood, urine) were collected and analyzed for metals, volatile organic compounds, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and pesticides.

The sample and data analysis was completed in fiscal year (FY)02 and an exposure data set, scrubbed of any personal identifying information, should be available through the Internet in FY03. The data will be used by human exposure modelers and as background data for use in risk assesments and for environmental justice projects.

Record Details:

Record Type:PROJECT

Start Date:10/01/1996

Completion Date:09/01/2004

Record ID: 29222

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Project Information:

Progress :Study was initiated in FY97 and field work was completed in FY98. FY99 work included chemical analysis of samples, data entry and data quality control (QC) activities. In FY00, work continued on data entry and data quality asurrance (QA)/QC activities. Work was also initiated for analyzing archived hair samples for mercury and obtaining formatted study databases. In FY01 Work continued on the databases and presentations were made and a journal article was published. Findings thus far show no major differences in the exposures of Border residents compared to those of the Arizona as a whole.

ABSTRACT/ORAL: Date Cleared: 28-APR-00

Nishioka, M.G., Brinkman, M.C., Gordon, S.M., O'Rourke, M.K., Lebowitz, M.D., Rogan, S.R., Moschandreas, D.J., and Robertson, G.L. Comparisons of pesticide levels and exposures in NHEXAS Arizona and Arizona-Mexico border populations. ISEA 2000 Exposure Analysis in the 21st Century: Integrating Science, Policy and Quality of Life, Monterey

Peninsula, CA, October 24-27, 2000.

ABSTRACT/ORAL: Date Cleared: 28-APR-00

O'Rourke, M.K., Lebowitz, M.D., Gordon, S.M., Nishioka, M.G. and Moschandreas, D.J. Demographic Characteristics of the NHEXAS-Arizona Border Study Population. ISEA 2000 Exposure Analysis in the 21st Century: Integrating Science, Policy and Quality of Life, Monterey Peninsula, CA, October 24-27, 2000.

ABSTRACT/ORAL: Date Cleared: 28-APR-00

Gordon, S.M., Brinkman, M.C., Callahan, P.J., Lebowitz, M.D., O'Rourke, M.K., Rogan, S.R., Ashley, D.L., Needham, L.L., Pirkle, J.L., Moschandreas, D.J., Robertson, G.L., Fixed-site Air and Biomarker Measurements of Vocs in a Non-occupationally Exposed Population along the Arizona-Mexico Border. ISEA 2000 Exposure Analysis in the 21st Century: Integrating Science, Policy and Quality of Life, Monterey Peninsula, CA, October 24-27, 2000.

ABSTRACT/ORAL: Date Cleared: 28-APR-00

O'Rourke, M.K., Rogan, S.P., Gordon, S.M., Robertson, G.L., Moschandreas, D.J. and Lebowitz, M.D.,

Lead, Arsenic and Cadmium Concentrations: Comparative results from the Arizona Border Study and NHEXAS Arizona. ISEA 2000 Exposure Analysis in the 21st Century: Integrating Science, Policy and Quality of Life, Monterey Peninsula, CA, October 24-27, 2000.

ABSTRACT/ORAL: Date Cleared: 28-Apr-2000

Chuang, J.C., Brinkman, M.C., Gordon, S.M., Lebowitz, M.D., O'Rourke, M.K., Rogan, S.P., Moschandreas, D.J., Robertson, G.L., Wilson, N.K., Residential Environmental Distributions of PAH in a Non-occupationally Exposed Population along the Arizona-Mexico Border. ISEA 2000 Exposure Analysis in the 21st Century: Integrating Science, Policy and Quality of Life, Monterey Peninsula, CA, October 24-27, 2000.

ABSTRACT/ORAL: Date Cleared: 22-May-2001

Robertson, G.L., Reses, J., Nishioka, M.G., and Lebowitz, M.D. Concentrations of pesticide from dermal surfaces: a comparison of NHEXAS & AZ border samples. Abstract presented at: 11th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Exposure Analysis, Charleston, SC, November 4-8, 2001

JOURNAL ARTICLE:

Moschandreas, D.J., Karuchit, S., Ari, H., Lebowitz, M.D., O,Rourke, M.K., Gordon, S., Robertson, G., On Prediciting Mulit-Route and Multimedia Residential Exposure to Chlorpyrifos and Diazinon, Journal of exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology (2000)11, 56-65

JOURNAL ARTICLE:

Moschandreas, D.J., Ari, H., Karuchit, S., Kim, Y., Lebowitz, M.D., O'Rourke, M.K., Gordon, S., Robertson, G., Exposure to Pesticides by Medium and Route: The 90th Percentile and Related Uncertainties, Journal of Environmental Engineering, (2002) 9, 857-864.

Relevance : This multimedia, multipathway, multichemical study has found that the Arizona border area residents, in general, do not have higher potential exposures to environmental chemicals than the residents of the remainder of Arizona. This addresses such issues as environmental justice (the area population is largely low income Hispanic), cross-border pollution, and agricultural versus non agricultural areas. Another purpose of the study is to evaluate the questionnaires and sampling methods in the border climate and largely Hispanic population for use in future studies. In addition, this study will provide related environmental concentration and activity pattern data to the exposure community to develop and evaluate mechanistic-based models of inhalation, ingestion, and dermal exposure.

Clients :

Hal Zenick, NHEERL, OPPTS/EPA, Border States

ORD/EPA, OPPTS/EPA, and DCEH/CDC

Project IDs:

ID Code :3910

Project type :OMIS