A review of nonoccupational pathways for pesticide exposure in women living in agricultural areas

Details

• Personal Author:
  Deziel NC ; Freeman LEB ; Friesen MC ; Hines CJ ; Hoppin JA ; Thomas K
• Description:
  Background: Women living in agricultural areas may experience high pesticide exposures compared to women in urban or suburban areas due to their proximity to farm activities. Objective: Our objective was to review the evidence in the published literature for the contribution of nonoccupational pathways of pesticide exposure in women living in North American agricultural areas. Methods: We evaluated the following nonoccupational exposure pathways: para-occupational (i.e., take-home or bystander exposure), agricultural drift, residential pesticide use, and dietary ingestion. We also evaluated the role of hygiene factors (e.g., house cleaning; shoe removal). Results: Among 35 publications identified (published 1995-2013), several reported significant or suggestive (p<0.1) associations between para-occupational (n=19) and agricultural drift (n=10) pathways and pesticide dust or biomarker levels, while three observed that residential use was associated with pesticide concentrations in dust. The four studies related to ingestion reported low detection rates of most pesticides in water; additional studies are needed to draw conclusions about this pathway's importance. Hygiene factors were not consistently linked to exposure among the 18 relevant publications identified. Conclusions: Evidence supported the importance of para-occupational, drift, and residential use pathways. Disentangling exposure pathways was difficult because agricultural populations are concurrently exposed to pesticides via multiple pathways. Most evidence was based on measurements of pesticides in residential dust, which are applicable to any household member and are not specific to women. An improved understanding of nonoccupational pesticide exposure pathways in women living in agricultural areas is critical for studying health effects in women and for designing effective exposure-reduction strategies. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Air Pollutants, Occupational Biomarkers Dust Hazardous Substances Insecticides Occupational Health Particulate Matter Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Women

  More +
• Keywords:
  Airborne-dusts Airborne-particles Dusts Exposure-levels Health-hazards Humans Pesticide-residues Pesticides Pesticides-and-agricultural-chemicals Risk-factors
• ISSN:
  0091-6765
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; Maryland ; North Carolina ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  123
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045654
• Citation:
  Environ Health Perspect 2015 Jun; 123(6):515-524
• Contact Point Address:
  Nicole Deziel, Yale School of Public Health, 60 College St., New Haven, CT 06510
• Email:
  nicole.deziel@yale.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Health Perspectives
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fab7145e99824fdb27651324fbdf9b2becba57ee3f58cde4230ca604d1eab6f48a1202dba22e127f022e853a6de2d4838c16ed106032d4b2b1240fd815dc8a34
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201000/cdc_201000_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 479.03 KB ]