Association between Pesticides in House Dust and Residential Proximity to Farmland in a Rural Region of Taiwan

Abstract

Pesticide drift was reported in many international studies, but rarely studied in Taiwan. We conducted a study in a rural region of Taiwan to examine the associations between pesticides in house dust and nearby agricultural areas using geographic information system (GIS). A questionnaire regarding home characteristics and pesticide use, and indoor and outdoor dust samples were collected from 47 rural homes. Dust samples were analyzed for six pesticides, and agricultural land data for GIS analysis were retrieved from a national website. All but prallethrin were frequently detected from indoor dust samples (>50%), and the maximum concentrations were all below 1000 ng/g. Detection frequencies and concentrations of pesticides in outdoor dust samples were even lower than that in indoor dust samples. Only “work involving pesticides” in the questionnaire was significantly associated with four pesticides in house dust (p < 0.05). Carbofuran and tetramethrin in house dust were significantly correlated with rice cultivation area at certain buffer distances (ρ > 0.33, p < 0.05), and chlorpyrifos was found to be associated with abandoned cultivation area, suggesting the occurrence of pesticide drift. Despite the low levels of pesticides in house dust, residents in the rural region should be cautious of pesticide drift from nearby active or abandoned farmlands.

Pesticides in Doormat and Floor Dust from Homes Close to Treated Fields: Spatio-Temporal Variance and Determinants of Occurrence and Concentrations

“…Finally, the poor correlation between VFD and DDM for several pesticides shows that results can be variable depending on the method used. Though, a recent study comparing pesticides in vacuumed outdoor and indoor dust also reported similar correlation ranges (overall moderate) (Simaremare et al, 2021). Correlations between the two matrixes can also be influenced by cleaning habits and other parameters (such as leaving windows open).…”

Human Exposure to Pesticides in Dust from Two Agricultural Sites in South Africa

“…However, it is unclear whether these differences are due to spray drift and subsequent partitioning to dust, to take home exposures, or brought in via shoes, as it is known that indoor dust is composed of about 35% outdoor soil [ 97 ]. Negative associations between the levels of pesticides in house dust and the distance from the farms have also previously been reported in some studies [ 42 , 43 , 53 , 54 , 59 , 98 ] as well as positive ones between the levels of pesticides in house dust and agricultural acreages around the house [ 99 ], but this trend was not found in other studies [ 55 , 80 , 81 ]. In the present work, this was observed only for two pesticides out of the ten found.…”

“…More specifically, chlorpyrifos, terbuthylazine, carbaryl, diazinon, carbendazim, and tebuconazole were frequently quantified (in 59–96% of the samples). In particular, chlorpyrifos, which is associated with neurotoxic and developmental effects [ 4 , 82 ], was the most frequently quantified pesticide in dust, similarly to what has been found in the USA [ 17 , 19 , 38 , 83 ], Pakistan [ 84 ], or Taiwan [ 81 ]. Its widespread occurrence in the two studied areas in environmental media (dust, air, soil, and water [ 64 , 68 , 69 , 70 ]) and human samples [ 64 , 82 ] is related to its common agricultural use, which was previously reported [ 70 ].…”

“…The presence of pesticides in indoor dust is mainly affected by (i) the amount of pesticides applied in the vicinity (outdoors and indoors), (ii) the application technique used, (iii) the physico-chemical properties of individual pesticides and their degradation half-lives in air, dust and soil, and (iv) the meteorological conditions [ 42 , 80 ]. The low amount of pesticides quantified in this study could be related to the fact that pesticides are usually sprayed manually for these two crops (i.e., pome fruits and table grapes), which could limit the distribution of pesticides beyond the cropland in comparison to mechanical pesticide applications [ 81 ].…”

Relationships between House Characteristics and Exposures to Metal(loid)s and Synthetic Organic Contaminants Evaluated Using Settled Indoor Dust

“…Such hypothesis-driven approaches are the basis for intervention studies designed to identify and mitigate specific indoor sources of target substances. Information about local outdoor sources and occupations helps to identify contaminants from vehicular traffic and nearby industry such as mining and smelting operations [ 23 , 24 , 36 ], and contaminants brought home from the workplace [ 2 ], including take-home exposures to pesticides from agricultural fields [ 37 , 38 ]. Questionnaires that accompany house dust studies also vary depending on whether researchers administer the questionnaire during the home visit, as in the Canadian House Dust Study [ 17 , 22 , 39 ], or if participants complete the questionnaire themselves, as in recent Citizen Science approaches [ 40 , 41 , 42 ].…”