Lower Acetylcholinesterase Activity among Children Living with Flower Plantation Workers

Details

• Journal Article:
  Environmental Research
• Personal Author:
  Suarez-Lopez, Jose R. ; Jacobs, David R. Jr. ; Himes, John H. ; Alexander, Bruce H. ; Lazovich, DeAnn ; Gunnar, Megan
• Description:
  Background: Children of workers exposed to pesticides are at risk of secondary pesticide exposure. We evaluated the potential for lower acetylcholinesterase activity in children cohabiting with fresh-cut flower plantation workers, which would be expected from organophosphate and carbamate insecticide exposure. Parental home surveys were performed and acetylcholinesterase activity was measured in 277 children aged 4-9 years in the Secondary Exposure to Pesticides among Infants, Children and Adolescents (ESPINA) study. Participants lived in a rural county in Ecuador with substantial flower plantation activity. RESULTS: Mean acetylcholinesterase activity was 3.14 U/ml, standard deviation (SD) of 0.49. It was lower by 0.09 U/ml (95% confidence interval (CI) -0.19, -0.001) in children of flower workers (57% of participants) than non-flower workers' children, after adjustment for gender, age, height-for-age, hemoglobin concentration, income, pesticide use within household lot, pesticide use by contiguous neighbors, examination date and residence distance to nearest flower plantation. Using a 4 level polychotomous acetylcholinesterase activity dependent variable, flower worker cohabitation (vs. not) had odds ratio 3.39 (95% CI 1.19, 9.64) for being <15th percentile compared to the highest tertile. Children cohabitating for ≥5 years (vs. never) had OR of 4.11 (95% CI: 1.17, 14.38) of AChE activity within <15th percentile compared to the highest tertile. Conclusions: Cohabitation with a flower worker was related to lower acetylcholinesterase activity in children. This supports the hypothesis that the amount of take-home pesticides from flower workers suffices to decrease acetylcholinesterase activity, with lower activity associated with longer exposure. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Child Child, Preschool Ecuador Environmental Exposure Family Flowers Insecticides Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Odds Ratio Organophosphates Safety Time Factors

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Acetylcholinesterase; AChE; Children; Pesticide; Organophosphate Pesticides And Agricultural Chemicals; Children; Acetylcholinesterase; Exposure Assessment; Families; Insecticides; Take-home Toxins;
• Source:
  Environ Res 2012 Apr; 114:53-59
• ISSN:
  0013-9351
• Pubmed ID:
  22405996
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC3319289
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  R36 OH009402/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States ; T32 HL007779/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States ; T32 HL007779-11/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States ; T32-HL007779/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  15 pdf pages
• Volume:
  114
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065290
• Contact Point Address:
  Jose R. Suarez-Lopez, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 South 2nd Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA
• Email:
  suarez@umn.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:92c76282408f57d11a3b98be1d06d15bfe48c1c1840702f82eb481262ad9b04331c4980b07fb3096d59553c10955fabfdda71f24e2eeb8273ffebebf969d8961
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/33332/cdc_33332_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 304.65 KB ]