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LEVELS OF CHLORPYRIFOS AND ITS DEGRADATION PRODUCT 3,5,6-TRICHLORO-2-PYRIDINOL IN THE HOMES, DAY CARE CENTERS, AND URINE OF 130 NORTH CAROLINA PRESCHOOL CHILDREN
Citation:
Morgan, M K., L S. Sheldon, N. K. Wilson, J. C. Chuang, C. Lyu, C Croghan, G L. Robertson, P A. Jones, M. C. Brinkman, AND R C. Fortmann. LEVELS OF CHLORPYRIFOS AND ITS DEGRADATION PRODUCT 3,5,6-TRICHLORO-2-PYRIDINOL IN THE HOMES, DAY CARE CENTERS, AND URINE OF 130 NORTH CAROLINA PRESCHOOL CHILDREN. Presented at International Society of Exposure Analysis, Stresa, Italy, September 21-25, 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
The overall objectives of CTEPP were to measure the aggregate exposures of approximately 260 preschool children and their adult caregivers to low levels of a suite of pesticides and organic pollutants that the children may encounter in their everyday environments, and to apportion the routes of exposure and estimate the relative contributions of each route.
Description:
This study examined the aggregate exposures of 257 preschool children to pollutants commonly found in their everyday environments. A primary objective was to identify important sources and routes that contribute to the children's exposures in these environments. Participants were recruited randomly from selected homes and day care centers in 12 North Carolina (NC) and Ohio counties. Monitoring was performed over a 48-hr period at the children's homes and/or day care centers. Samples that were collected included diet, water, air, urine, dust, soil, and surface wipes. The samples were analyzed by GC/MS for over 50 pollutants including chlorpyrifos and its degradation product 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP). Here we report preliminary results for levels of chlorpyrifos and TCP in multimedia samples collected at homes (n=130) or day care centers (n=13) of 130 NC preschool children. The median levels of chlorpyrifos and TCP measured at homes were 5.1 and 4.6 ng/sample (hand wipes), 6.1 and 1.9 ng/m3 (indoor air), 138.6 and 95.8 ng/g (dust), and 0.2 and 0.6 ng/g (soil), respectively. At day cares, the median levels of chlorpyrifos and TCP were 4.4 and 2.9 ng/sample (hand wipes), 3.2 and 0.9 ng/m3 (indoor air), 142.2 and 62.5 ng/g (dust), and 0.2 and 0.1 ng/g (soil), respectively. The median TCP concentration in the children's urine was 5.3 ng/mL. The results suggest that TCP may not be a useful urinary biomarker of exposure for children exposed to low levels of chlorpyrifos in their everyday environment.
This work has been funded wholly by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under contract #68-D-99-011 to Battelle. It has been subjected to Agency review and approved for publication.