Exposure to Indoor Pesticides during Pregnancy
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Exposure to Indoor Pesticides during Pregnancy
Date:
Sat, 11 Jan 2003 10:20:11 -0500
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Mosquito control units and others with interest in possible health effects from exposure to mosquitocides should take note of a recent study reported in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives: "Exposure to Indoor Pesticides during Pregnancy in a Multiethnic, Urban Cohort" by Berkowitz et al.
While the primary purpose of the study is to examine effects of pesticide exposure on fetal growth and neurodevelopment, results may also be shedding light on exposures due to pesticide applications for West Nile Virus control.
The study documented urinary residues of 3 pesticide metabolites, including PBA, which " is a possible metabolite of several pyrethroid insecticides, including sumithrin, permethrin, and cypermethrin." PBA residues were found at higher levels in this study than previously, which "may reflect the increasing use of pyrethroids for residential pesticides and/or the spraying against the West Nile virus in New York City during the summer and fall of 2000. The variant results may also reflect differences in assay techniquesS."
In support of the hypothesis that the higher PBA residue levels may be result of pesticide applications for WNV control, "Seasonal variation in pesticide levels has been observed both in air and urine samples, with higher concentrations during summer or spring and summer. We detected no seasonal variations for TCPy or PCP [other metabolites not derived from mosquitocides]. However, significant temporal variations were observed for PBA where the levels were highest during summer and fall for the year 2000. It might be speculated that the spraying of the pyrethroid sumithrin against West Nile virus, which occurred between 19 July and 25 September 2000, may have contributed to the increased levelsS."
[Quotations are from page 83 of the text. Full text can be accessed at http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/erap/WNV/WNVEducDocs/BerkowitzEHPPestPregn.pdf. The citation and abstract follow, below. Thanks to Suzanne Snedeker, Ph.D., Associate Director of Translational Research with the Cornell Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors in NYS (BCERF) for alerting us to this article.]
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Exposure to Indoor Pesticides during Pregnancy in a Multiethnic, Urban Cohort. January 2003. Environmental Health Perspectives 111 (1): 79-84. Gertrud S., Josephine Obel, Elena Deych, Robert Lapinski, James Godbold, Zhisong Liu, Philip J. Landrigan, and Mary S. Wolff
Abstract:
Evidence is growing that indoor pesticide exposure is of considerable magnitude in the United States and that pesticide concentrations may be especially high in urban areas. Of particular concern is exposure of pregnant women because animal data suggest that exposure to pesticides during pregnancy and early life may impair neurodevelopment in the offspring. To investigate the relationship between prenatal exposure to indoor pesticides and infant growth and development, we are conducting a prospective, multiethnic cohort study of mothers and infants delivered at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. This article provides data on pesticide exposure based on questionnaire items and analysis of maternal urinary metabolite levels among 386 women. Both the questionnaire and laboratory data revealed that exposure to indoor pesticides was considerable. The proportion of women estimated from questionnaire data as having been exposed during pregnancy to indoor pesticides (approximately 70%) was somewhat lower than the 80-90% of American households who reportedly used pesticides in previous surveys, but some of the latter surveys included both indoor and outdoor pesticide use. Urinary metabolite levels of 3,5,6_trichloro_2_pyridinol (TCPy; median = 11.3 µg/g creatinine), phenoxybenzoic acid (PBA; median =19.3 µg/g creatinine), and pentachlorophenol (PCP; median =7.3 µg/g creatinine) were higher than those reported in other studies of adults in the United States. Furthermore, no associations were evident between the pesticide questionnaire data and the urinary metabolites.
Assessments of sociodemographic and building charactertics with questionnaire data and the metabolite levels revealed no consistent trends. Significant temporal variations were observed for urinary PBA but not TCPy or PCP. The temporal variations for PBA were consistent with seasonal spraying of pyrethroid pesticides. These data underscore the need to assess the potentially adverse effects of pesticide exposure on fetuses and infants and the importance of finding alternative methods for pest management to reduce pesticide exposures.
Key words: chlorpyrifos, exposure assessment, pesticides, urinary biomarkers.
--
Lois Levitan, PhD Program Leader
Environmental Risk Analysis Program
Center for the Environment
213 Rice Hall, Cornell University
Ithaca, New York USA 14853-5601
Phone: (607) 255-4765 Fax: (607) 255-0238
Email: LCL3@cornell.edu
Program Email: envrisk@cornell.edu
Web: http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/ERAP
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