Organophosphorus pesticide exposure of urban and suburban preschool children with organic and conventional diets.

Abstract

We assessed organophosphorus (OP) pesticide exposure from diet by biological monitoring among Seattle, Washington, preschool children. Parents kept food diaries for 3 days before urine collection, and they distinguished organic and conventional foods based on label information. Children were then classified as having consumed either organic or conventional diets based on analysis of the diary data. Residential pesticide use was also recorded for each home. We collected 24-hr urine samples from 18 children with organic diets and 21 children with conventional diets and analyzed them for five OP pesticide metabolites. We found significantly higher median concentrations of total dimethyl alkylphosphate metabolites than total diethyl alkylphosphate metabolites (0.06 and 0.02 micro mol/L, respectively; p = 0.0001). The median total dimethyl metabolite concentration was approximately six times higher for children with conventional diets than for children with organic diets (0.17 and 0.03 micro mol/L; p = 0.0003); mean concentrations differed by a factor of nine (0.34 and 0.04 micro mol/L). We calculated dose estimates from urinary dimethyl metabolites and from agricultural pesticide use data, assuming that all exposure came from a single pesticide. The dose estimates suggest that consumption of organic fruits, vegetables, and juice can reduce children's exposure levels from above to below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's current guidelines, thereby shifting exposures from a range of uncertain risk to a range of negligible risk. Consumption of organic produce appears to provide a relatively simple way for parents to reduce their children's exposure to OP pesticides.

Organophosphorus Pesticide Exposure of School Children in Agricultural Villages in Indonesia

“…First, chronic exposure from the diet is potentially very low in these rural communities. Studies in developed countries showed that children who consumed fresh fruit and related products had higher exposure levels to OP metabolites [21,22]. In our study area, children generally consume only indigenous tropical fruits with no pesticide treatment and rarely consume farmgrown fruits such as apples, oranges, and grapes.…”

Comparison of food consumption frequencies among NHANES and CPES children: Implications for dietary pesticide exposure and risk assessment

“…Dietary intake has been identified as an important source of pesticide exposure among US children, particularly for organophosphorus (OP) and pyrethroid pesticides (Fenske et al, 2002;Clayton et al, 2003;Curl et al, 2003;Morgan et al, 2005;Lu et al, 2008aLu et al, , 2006bRiederer et al, 2008). Characterizing consumption patterns usually involves empirical and/ or probabilistic descriptions of how individuals vary with respect to the frequency and amounts of the foods they eat.…”

Multimedia measurements and activity patterns in an observational pilot study of nine young children

“…Although recent research efforts have collected much needed data to improve our understanding of the potential exposures of young children in their homes, child care centers, and other environments (Zartarian et al, 1995(Zartarian et al, , 1997(Zartarian et al, , 1998Bradman et al, 1997Bradman et al, , 2007Byrne et al, 1998;Gurunathan et al, 1998;Landrigan et al, 1999;Adgate et al, 2000Adgate et al, , 2001Fenske et al, 2000bFenske et al, , 2002Freeman et al, 2001;Lu et al, 2001;MacIntosh et al, 2001;Pang et al, 2002;Clayton et al, 2003;Curl et al, 2003;Duggan et al, 2003;Shalat et al, 2003;Wilson et al, 2003Wilson et al, , 2004Hore et al, 2005;Morgan et al, 2005;Perera et al, 2006), it is not clear what factors most influence a child's potential exposure to pesticides.…”