Variability in the take-home pathway: farmworkers and non-farmworkers and their children

Organophosphorus pesticide exposure from house dust and parent-reported child behavior in Latino children from an orchard community

BACKGROUND

Organophosphorus pesticide (OP) exposure is known to have adverse effects on the nervous system. Children from agricultural communities are at risk of exposure to these chemicals from their indoor environments that can lead to neurological and developmental problems, including changes in behavior.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the take-home pathway exposure is associated with behavioral and emotional problems in Latino Orchid Community children.

METHOD

The study was implemented over a period of two years (2008-2010) in an orchard farming community with a total of 324 parents who had children between the ages of 5-12 years old. Mothers of the children were asked to complete the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and dust from their carpets was collected. Emotional and behavioral deficits were assessed based on the CBCL and house dust was assessed for OP concentrations. In this study, correlations between OPs in house dust and CBCL subscales were estimated using linear regression models with total OP concentrations classified by tertiles. This study also facilitated the comparison between the agricultural and non-agricultural families in terms of behavioral deficits and house dust concentrations of pesticides.

RESULTS

The data from the study shows that there was a positive association between the concentration of OP residues in house dust and internalizing behavior (β=2.06, p=0.05) whereas the association with externalizing behavior was not significant after accounting for sociocultural covariates. Significant positive associations of OP residues with somatic problems (p=0.02) and thought problems (p=0.05) were also found.

CONCLUSION

The data support a potential role of OP exposure in childhood development, with a specific focus on internalizing behavior. Future work focused on longitudinal studies may uncover the long-term consequences of OP exposure and behavior.

Occurrence of pesticide residues in indoor dust of farmworker households across Europe and Argentina

Pesticides are widely used as plant protection products (PPPs) in farming systems to preserve crops against pests, weeds, and fungal diseases. Indoor dust can act as a chemical repository revealing occurrence of pesticides in the indoor environment at the time of sampling and the (recent) past. This in turn provides information on the exposure of humans to pesticides in their homes. In the present study, part of the Horizon 2020 funded SPRINT project, the presence of 198 pesticide residues was assessed in 128 indoor dust samples from both conventional and organic farmworker households across Europe, and in Argentina. Mixtures of pesticide residues were found in all dust samples (25-121, min-max; 75, median). Concentrations varied in a wide range (<0.01 ng/g-206 μg/g), with glyphosate and its degradation product AMPA, permethrin, cypermethrin and piperonyl butoxide found in highest levels. Regarding the type of pesticides, insecticides showed significantly higher levels than herbicides and fungicides. Indoor dust samples related to organic farms showed a significantly lower number of residues, total and individual concentrations than those related to conventional farms. Some pesticides found in indoor dust were no longer approved ones (29 %), with acute/chronic hazards to human health (32 %) and with environmental toxicity (21 %).

Factors affecting urinary organophosphate pesticide metabolite levels among Californian agricultural community members

Organophosphate (OP) pesticides are widely used in California for agricultural pest and weed control despite their well-documented adverse health effects among infants, children, and adults. We sought to identify factors affecting urinary OP metabolites among families living in high-exposure communities. Our study included 80 children and adults who lived within 61 m (200 ft) of agricultural fields in the Central Valley of California in January and June 2019, which are pesticide non-spraying and spraying seasons, respectively. We collected one urine sample per participant during each visit to measure dialkyl phosphate (DAP) metabolites; these were coupled with in-person surveys to identify health, household, sociodemographic, pesticide exposure, and occupational risk factors. We used a data-driven, best subsets regression approach to identify key factors that influenced urinary DAPs. Participants were mostly Hispanic/Latino(a) (97.5 %), over half were female (57.5 %), and most households reported having a member who worked in agriculture (70.6 %). Among the 149 urine samples suitable for analysis, DAP metabolites were detected in 48.0 % and 40.5 % of samples during January and June, respectively. Total diethyl alkylphosphates (EDE) were only detected in 4.7 % (n = 7) of samples, but total dimethyl alkylphosphates (EDM) were detected in 41.6 % (n = 62) of samples. No differences were observed in urinary DAP levels by visit month or by occupational exposure to pesticides. Best subsets regression identified several individual- and household-level variables that influenced both urinary EDM and total DAPs: the number of years spent living at the current address, household use of chemical products to control mice/rodents, and seasonal employment status. Among adults only, we identified educational attainment (for total DAPs) and age category (for EDM) as significant factors. Our study found consistent urinary DAP metabolites among participants, regardless of spraying season, and identified potential mitigating factors that members of vulnerable populations can implement to protect their health against OP exposure.

Pesticide Exposure among Latinx Children in Rural Farmworker and Urban Non-Farmworker Communities: Associations with Locality and Season

This study uses repeated measures to document the pesticide exposure of rural and urban Latinx children (age eight at baseline), and to compare these children in terms of the frequency and concentration of their exposure to a large set of pesticides, accounting for season. We used silicone wristbands worn for one week up to ten times at quarterly intervals from 2018 to 2022 to assess pesticide exposure in children from rural farmworker (n = 75) and urban non-farmworker (n = 61) families. We determined the detection and concentrations (ng/g) of 72 pesticides and pesticide degradation products in the wristbands using gas chromatography electron capture detection and gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The most frequently detected pesticide classes were organochlorines, pyrethroids, and organophosphates. Controlling for season, organochlorine or phenylpyrazole detections were less likely for rural children than for urban children. Detections of organochlorines, pyrethroids, or organophosphates were lower in spring and summer versus winter. Controlling for season, urban children had greater concentrations of organochlorines, while rural children had greater concentrations of pyrethroids and Chlorpyrifos. Pesticide concentrations were lower in winter and spring compared with summer and fall. These results further document that pesticides are ubiquitous in the living environment for children in vulnerable, immigrant communities.

Alteration of oral microbiome composition in children living with pesticide-exposed farm workers

Our prior work shows that azinphos-methyl pesticide exposure is associated with altered oral microbiomes in exposed farmworkers. Here we extend this analysis to show the same association pattern is also evident in their children. Oral buccal swab samples were analyzed at two time points, the apple thinning season in spring-summer 2005 for 78 children and 101 adults and the non-spray season in winter 2006 for 62 children and 82 adults. The pesticide exposure for the children were defined by the farmworker occupation of the cohabitating household adult and the blood azinphos-methyl detection of the cohabitating adult. Oral buccal swab 16S rRNA sequencing determined taxonomic microbiota proportional composition from concurrent samples from both adults and children. Analysis of the identified bacteria showed significant proportional changes for 12 of 23 common oral microbiome genera in association with azinphos-methyl detection and farmworker occupation. The most common significantly altered genera had reductions in the abundance of Streptococcus, suggesting an anti-microbial effect of the pesticide. Principal component analysis of the microbiome identified two primary clusters, with association of principal component 1 to azinphos-methyl blood detection and farmworker occupational status of the household. The children's buccal microbiota composition clustered with their household adult in ∼95% of the households. Household adult farmworker occupation and household pesticide exposure is associated with significant alterations in their children's oral microbiome composition. This suggests that parental occupational exposure and pesticide take-home exposure pathways elicit alteration of their children's microbiomes.

Time after a peak-pesticide use period and neurobehavior among ecuadorian children and adolescents: The ESPINA study

BACKGROUND

Limited evidence exists regarding transient neurobehavioral alterations associated with episodic pesticide exposures or agricultural pesticide spray periods. We previously observed that children examined soon after a pesticide spray period (the Mother's Day flower harvest [MDH]) had lower neurobehavioral performance than children examined later. The present study builds on our previous work by incorporating longitudinal analyses from childhood through adolescence.

METHODS

We examined participants in agricultural communities in Ecuador (ESPINA study) during three periods: July-August 2008 (N = 313, 4-9-year-olds); April 2016 (N = 330, 11-17-year-olds); July-October 2016 (N = 535, 11-17-year-olds). Participants were examined primarily during a period of low floricultural production. Neurobehavior was assessed using the NEPSY-II (domains: Attention/Inhibitory Control, Language, Memory/Learning, Visuospatial Processing, and Social Perception). Linear regression and generalized linear mixed models were used to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between examination date (days) after the MDH and neurobehavioral outcomes, adjusting for demographic, anthropometric, and socio-economic variables.

RESULTS

Participants were examined between 63 and 171 days after the MDH. Mean neurobehavioral domain scores ranged from 1.0 to 17.0 (SD_range = 2.1-3.1) in 2008 and 1.0 to 15.5 (SD_range = 2.0-2.3) in 2016. In cross-sectional analyses (2016 only; N = 523), we found significant or borderline positive associations between time after the MDH and Attention/Inhibitory Control (difference/10 days [β] = 0.22 points [95% CI = 0.03, 0.41]) and Language (β = 0.16 points [95% CI = -0.03, 0.34]). We also observed positive, longitudinal associations (2008-2016) with Attention/Inhibitory Control (β = 0.19 points [95% CI = 0.04, 0.34]) through 112 days after the harvest and Visuospatial Processing (β = 3.56, β-quadratic = -0.19 [95% CI: -0.29, -0.09]) through 92 days.

CONCLUSIONS

Children examined sooner after the harvest had lower neurobehavioral performance compared to children examined later, suggesting that peak pesticide spray seasons may transiently affect neurobehavior followed by recovery during low pesticide-use periods. Reduction of pesticide exposure potential for children during peak pesticide-use periods is advised.

Factors Associated with Levels of Organophosphate Pesticides in Household Dust in Agricultural Communities

Organophosphate (OP) pesticides are associated with numerous adverse health outcomes. Pesticide use data are available for California from the Pesticide Use Report (PUR), but household- and individual-level exposure factors have not been fully characterized to support its refinement as an exposure assessment tool. Unique exposure pathways, such as proximity to agricultural operations and direct occupational contact, further complicate pesticide exposure assessment among agricultural communities. We sought to identify influencing factors of pesticide exposure to support future exposure assessment and epidemiological studies. Household dust samples were collected from 28 homes in four California agricultural communities during January and June 2019 and were analyzed for the presence of OPs. Factors influencing household OPs were identified by a data-driven model via best subsets regression. Key factors that impacted dust OP levels included household cooling strategies, secondary occupational exposure to pesticides, and geographic location by community. Although PUR data demonstrate seasonal trends in pesticide application, this study did not identify season as an important factor, suggesting OP persistence in the home. These results will help refine pesticide exposure assessment for future studies and highlight important gaps in the literature, such as our understanding of pesticide degradation in an indoor environment.

Relation between organophosphate pesticide metabolite concentrations with pesticide exposures, socio-economic factors and lifestyles: A cross-sectional study among school boys in the rural Western Cape, South Africa

Evidence on the relationship between lifestyle, socio-economic factors and pesticide exposure and urinary concentrations of organophosphate (OP) pesticide metabolites among children is generally incomplete. This study investigated the relationship between socio-economic factors and reported pesticide exposures and the sum of three urinary concentrations of dialkyl phosphate metabolites (DAP) among boys living in the rural areas of the Western Cape, South Africa. Data was collected during a cross-sectional study of 183 boys from three agricultural intense areas. Measurements included a questionnaire on socio-economic and pesticide exposures and urinary DAP concentrations. Most boys (70%) lived on farms with a median age of 12 years (range: 5.0-19.5 years). Children aged >14 years had lower DAP urine concentrations (median = 39.9 ng/ml; β = -68.1 ng/ml; 95% CI: -136.8, 0.6) than children aged 9 years and younger (median = 107.0 ng/ml). DAP concentrations also varied significantly with area, with concentrations in the grape farming area, Hex River Valley (median = 61.8 ng/ml; β = -52.1; 95% CI: -97.9, -6.3 ng/ml) and the wheat farming area, Piketberg (median = 72.4 ng/ml; β = -54.2; 95% CI: 98.8, -9.7 ng/ml) lower than those in the pome farming area, Grabouw (median = 79.9 ng/ml). Other weaker and non-significant associations with increased DAP levels were found with increased household income, member of household working with pesticides, living on a farm, drinking water from an open water source and eating crops from the vineyard and or garden. The study found younger age and living in and around apple and grape farms to be associated with increased urinary DAP concentrations. Additionally, there were other pesticide exposures and socio-economic and lifestyle factors that were weakly associated with elevated urinary DAP levels requiring further study. The study provided more evidence on factors associated to urinary DAP concentrations especially in developing country settings.

Eliminating Take-Home Exposures: Recognizing the Role of Occupational Health and Safety in Broader Community Health

Toxic contaminants inadvertently brought from the workplace to the home, known as take-home or paraoccupational exposures, have often been framed as a problem that arises due to unsanitary worker behavior. This review article conceptualizes take-home exposures as a public health hazard by (i) investigating the history of take-home contaminants and how they have been studied, (ii) arguing that an ecosocial view of the problem is essential for effective prevention, (iii) summarizing key structural vulnerabilities that lead populations to be at risk, and (iv) discussing future research and prevention effort needs. This article reframes take-home exposures as one of many chronic pathways that contributes to persistent health disparities among workers, their families, and communities. Including the role of work in community health will increase the comprehensiveness of prevention efforts for contaminants such as lead and pesticides that contribute to environmental disparities.

A Pilot Study Evaluating Organochlorine and Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure in Children and Adolescents of Mexican Descent Residing in Hidalgo County, Texas

Children and adolescents of Mexican descent residing in Hidalgo County (TX) were evaluated for exposure to organochlorine (OC) and organophosphate (OP) pesticides. A convenience sample of 60 participants enrolled in our pilot study. The lipid-adjusted serum concentrations of nine OC metabolites and creatinine-adjusted urinary concentrations of six OP metabolites were measured and compared with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Fourth Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the concentration levels for each metabolite. Study participants were aged 5-18 years. For most of the OC and OP metabolites, our findings showed that participants had concentration levels within the distributional range of the national data. However, notable outlying levels (greater than the 95th percentile in the Fourth Report) were identified for the following OC metabolites: gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethene, and p,p'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. Among the children aged 5-11 years, one child had an outlying value for the OP metabolite: dimethylphosphate. Our findings on the levels of OC and OP pesticide exposure enhances the credibility of national estimates, and can serve as baselines for children and adolescents of Mexican descent residing in Lower Rio Grande Valley. Furthermore, our study contributes to the lacunae of knowledge regarding environmental exposures and presses further investigation of outlying OC and OP exposure levels.

Stress Among Latinos: Does it Vary by Occupation and Agricultural Season?

OBJECTIVE

Stress is pervasive among Latino immigrants. We identified seasonal and occupational patterns in stress among rural Latino immigrants.

METHODS

During three agricultural periods, farmworker and non-farmworker participants responded to a 24-item stress questionnaire (Snipes et al, 2007). We measured the associations of stress with occupation, with season, and occupation within season, adjusting for demographic variables.

RESULTS

The highest levels of stress were observed in the pre-thinning season when pruning takes place among farmworkers. Stress is significantly higher in farmworkers compared with non-farmworkers only in the non-spray season when crops are dormant. Higher income was associated with decreased stress in the pre-thinning and thinning seasons when buds and small fruit are removed from orchards.

CONCLUSIONS

Identification of strategies to reduce stress in Latino migrants is warranted. Although some sources of stress may be intractable, others may be amenable to intervention.

Blood pressure after a heightened pesticide spray period among children living in agricultural communities in Ecuador

INTRODUCTION

Agricultural pesticide spray periods increase the pesticide exposure potential of children living nearby and growing evidence indicates that they may affect children's health. We examined the association of time following a heightened agricultural production period, the Mother's Day flower harvest (May), with children's blood pressure (BP).

METHODS

We included cross-sectional information of 313 children ages 4-9 years in Ecuadorian agricultural communities (the ESPINA study). Examinations occurred during a period of low flower production, but within 63-100 days (mean = 81.5, SD = 10.9) following the Mother's Day harvest. BP was measured twice using a pediatric sphygmomanometer and BP percentiles appropriate for age, gender and height were calculated.

RESULTS

Participants were 51% male, 1.6% hypertensive and 7.7% had elevated BP. The mean (SD) BP percentiles were: systolic: 51.7 (23.9); diastolic: 33.3 (20.3). There was an inverse relationship between of time after the spray season with percentiles of systolic (difference [β] per 10.9 days after the harvest: -4.3 [95%CI: -6.9, -1.7]) and diastolic BP (β: -7.5 [-9.6, -5.4]) after adjusting for race, heart rate and BMI-for-age z-score. A curvilinear association with diastolic BP was observed. For every 10.9 days that a child was examined sooner after the harvest, the OR of elevated BP/hypertension doubled (OR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.3, 3.1). Time after the harvest was positively associated with acetylcholinesterase.

CONCLUSIONS

Children examined sooner after a heightened pesticide spray period had higher blood pressure and pesticide exposure markers than children examined later. Further studies with multiple exposure-outcome measures across pesticide spray periods are needed.

Systematic Literature Review of the Take-Home Route of Pesticide Exposure via Biomonitoring and Environmental Monitoring

BACKGROUND

Exposure to pesticides via take-home can be an important pathway for farmworkers' families.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this review was to summarize and analyze the literature published during the last decade of exposure to pesticides via take-home pathway in farmworkers' families.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review to identify peer-reviewed articles of interest; only articles related to take-home pathway that included some sort of pesticide monitoring were considered for inclusion. Systematic reviews, literature reviews, and meta-analyses were excluded, resulting in a total of 39 articles elected for analysis. The articles were summarized based on the location of the study, population (sample size), pesticide analyzed, and type of sample.

RESULTS

The majority of the reviewed studies were conducted in the U.S., but there seems to be an increase in literature on pesticide take-home pathway in developing countries. Most of the articles provided evidence that farmworkers' families are exposed to pesticides at higher levels than non-farmworkers' families. The levels may depend on several factors such as seasonality, parental occupation, cohabitation with a farmworker, behavior at work/home, age, and gender. Community-based interventions disrupting the take-home pathway seem to be effective at reducing pesticide exposure.

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION

The take-home pathway is an important contributor to overall residential exposures, but other pathways such as pesticide drift, indoor-residential applications, and dietary intake need to be considered. A more comprehensive exposure assessment approach is necessary to better understand exposures to pesticides.

Association of Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and a Marker of Asthma Morbidity in an Agricultural Community

Objectives: We explored the short-term impact of pesticide exposure on asthma exacerbation among children with asthma in an agricultural community.Methods: We obtained repeated urine samples from a subset of 16 school-age children with asthma (n = 139 samples) as part of the Aggravating Factors of Asthma in a Rural Environment (AFARE) study cohort. Biomarkers of organophosphate (OP) pesticide exposure (dialkylphosphates (DAPs)), and asthma exacerbation (leukotriene E4 (uLTE4)) were assessed in urine samples. We used generalized estimating equations to examine the association of summed measures of creatinine-adjusted DAPs (total dimethyl alkylphosphate (EDM), total diethyl alkylphosphate (EDE), and total dialkylphosphate pesticides (EDAP)) and uLTE4 concentration, adjusting for multiple confounders, yielding beta-coefficients with 95% CIs.Results: A total of 139 observations were obtained from the 16 children over the study period, the total number of samples per subject ranged from 1 to 12 (median: 10.5). The geometric mean (GM) of creatinine-adjusted EDE, EDM, and EDAP in this population were 81.0, 71.8 and 168.0 nmol/g, respectively. Increase in uLTE4 levels was consistently associated with increased exposures to DAPs (interquartile range in μg/g): β_EDE: 8.7 (95%CI: 2.8, 14.6); β_EDM: 1.1 (0.5, 1.7); β_EDAP: 4.1 (0.7, 7.5).Conclusion: This study suggests that short-term OP exposure is associated with a higher risk of asthma morbidity, as indicated by increased uLTE4 levels in this cohort of children with asthma in an agricultural community. Additional studies are required to confirm these adverse effects, and explore the mechanisms underlying this relationship.

Evaluation of the relationship between residential orchard density and dimethyl organophosphate pesticide residues in house dust

Reducing residential pesticide exposure requires identification of exposure pathways. Compared to the agriculture worker 'take-home' and residential use pathways, evidence of the 'drift' pathway to pesticide exposure has been inconsistent. Questionnaire data from individuals (n = 99) and dust samples (n = 418) from households across three growing seasons in 2011 were from the For Healthy Kids! study. Summed dimethyl organophosphate pesticide (OP) (Azinphos-Methyl, Phosmet, and Malathion) concentrations were quantified from house dust samples. Spatially-weighted orchard densities surrounding households were calculated based on various distances from homes. Regression models tested associations between orchard density, residential pesticide use, agriculture worker residents, and summed dimethyl OP house dust concentrations. Estimated relationships between orchard density and dimethyl OP in house dust were mixed: a 5% increase in orchard density resulted in 0.3 and 0.5% decreases in dimethyl OP house dust concentrations when considering land-cover 750 m or 1250 m away from households, respectively, but null associations with land-cover 60 m or 200 m away. Dimethyl OP house dust concentrations were 400% higher within homes where at least two residents were agriculture workers. Despite inconclusive evidence for the drift pathway due to potential for bias, relationships between number of agriculture workers and dimethyl OP house dust concentration underscores the take-home pathway.

Application of improved approach to evaluate a community intervention to reduce exposure of young children living in farmworker households to organophosphate pesticides

The take-home pathway is a significant source of organophosphate pesticide exposure for young children (3-5 years old) living with an adult farmworker. This avoidable exposure pathway is an important target for intervention. We selected 24 agricultural communities in the Yakima Valley of Washington State and randomly assigned them to receive an educational intervention (n = 12) to reduce children's pesticide exposure or usual care (n = 12). We assessed exposure to pesticides in nearly 200 adults and children during the pre and post-intervention periods by measuring metabolites in urine. We compared pre- and post-intervention exposures by expressing the child's pesticide metabolite concentration as a fraction of the adult's concentration living in the same household, because the amount of pesticides applied during the collection periods varied. Exposures in our community were consistently higher, sometimes above the 95^th percentile of the exposures reported by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). While intervention and control communities demonstrated a reduction in the ratio of child to adult exposure, this reduction was more pronounced in intervention communities (2.7-fold, p < 0.001 compared to 1.7-fold, p = 0.052 for intervention and control, respectively). By examining the child/adult biomarker ratio, we demonstrated that our community-based intervention was effective in reducing pesticide exposure to children in agricultural communities.

Longitudinal, Seasonal, and Occupational Trends of Multiple Pesticides in House Dust

BACKGROUND

Children are especially vulnerable to pesticide exposure and can suffer lasting health effects. Because children of farmworkers are exposed to a variety of pesticides throughout development, it is important to explore temporal patterns of coexposures.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study were to characterize the pesticide co-exposures, determine how they change over time, and assess differences between farmworker and nonfarmworker households.

METHODS

Dust collected from 40 farmworker and 35 nonfarmworker households in the Yakima Valley of the State of Washington in 2005 and then again in 2011 was analyzed for 99 pesticides. Eighty-seven pesticides representing over 28 classes were detected. Pesticides were grouped into classes using U.S. EPA pesticide chemical classifications, and trends in concentrations were analyzed at the class level.

RESULTS

Levels of organophosphates, pyridazinones, and phenols significantly decreased between 2005 and 2011 in both farmworker and nonfarmworker households. Levels of anilides, 2,6-dinitroanilines, chlorophenols, triclosan, and guanidines significantly increased in both farmworker and nonfarmworker households in 2011 vs. 2005. Among farmworkers alone, there were significantly lower levels of N-methyl carbamates and neonicotinoids in 2011.

CONCLUSIONS

We observed significant reductions in the concentrations of many pesticides over time in both farmworker and nonfarmworker households. Although nonfarmworker households generally had lower concentrations of pesticides, it is important to note that in comparison with NHANES participants, nonfarmworkers and their families still had significantly higher concentrations of urinary pesticide metabolites. This finding highlights the importance of detailed longitudinal exposure monitoring to capture changes in agricultural and residential pesticide use over time. This foundation provides an avenue to track longitudinal pesticide exposures in an intervention or regulatory context. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3644.

Diazinon exposure activated transcriptional factors CCAAT-enhancer-binding proteins α (C/EBPα) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and induced adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes

Environmental chemical exposure could be a contributor to the increasing obesity epidemic. Diazinon, an organophosphate insecticide, has been widely used in the agriculture, and exposure of the general population to diazinon has been reported. Diazinon has been known to induce neurotoxic effects mainly through the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). However, its association with dysregulation of adipogenesis has been poorly investigated. The current study aimed to examine the mechanism of diazinon's effect on adipogenesis using the 3T3-L1 preadipocytes combined with a single-cell-based high-content analysis. The results showed that diazinon induced lipid droplet accumulation in a dose-dependent manner. The dynamic changes of adipogenic regulatory proteins and genes were examined at the three stages of adipogenesis (induction, differentiation, and maturation) in 3T3-L1 cells treated with various doses of diazinon (0, 1, 10, 100 μM) using real-time quantitative RT-PCR and Western Blot respectively. Diazinon significantly induced protein expression of transcriptional factors CCAAT-enhancer-binding proteins α (C/EBPα) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), their downstream proteins, fatty acid synthase (FASN), acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC), fatty acid-binding protein 4 (FABP4), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), adiponectin and perilipin in dose and time-dependent manners. Similarly, the adipogenic genes were significantly induced in a dose and time-dependent manner compared to the relative controls. The current study demonstrates that diazinon promotes lipid accumulation and activates the adipogenic signaling pathway in the in vitro model.

Disseminating Pesticide Exposure Results to Farmworker and Nonfarmworker Families in an Agricultural Community: A Community-Based Participatory Research Approach

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of a dissemination process to provide individual pesticide results to study participants.

METHODS

After working with community members to disseminate data, 37 participants were recontacted via an interview survey to assess the effectiveness of the dissemination process.

RESULTS

Almost all participants (97.3%) recalled a home visit from a health promoter; 29 (78.4%) correctly recalled that the health promoter used a thermometer or graphic to explain the results; 26 (70.3%) correctly interpreted graphics showing high and low exposure levels in adults and 75.7% correctly interpreted results for children.

CONCLUSIONS

The study results support the use of a community-based participatory research approach to decide how to best depict and disseminate study results, especially among participants who are often left out of the dissemination process.

Childhood Residential and Agricultural Pesticide Exposures in Relation to Adult-Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis in Women

Farming and pesticide exposure may influence risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA); the role of early-life pesticide exposure is unknown. The Sister Study includes a US national cohort of women aged 35-74 years (enrolled 2004-2009); we examined childhood pesticide exposure in women in this cohort with adult-onset RA. Cases (n = 424) were compared with 48,919 noncases. Data included pesticide use at the longest childhood residence through age 14 years, farm residence of at least 12 months with agricultural pesticide exposure through age 18 years, and maternal farm experience. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were adjusted for age, race or ethnicity, education, smoking, and childhood socioeconomic factors. Cases with RA reported more frequent and direct (personal) residential pesticide use in childhood (for infrequent/indirect pesticide use, odds ratio (OR) = 1.1; for frequent/direct use, OR = 1.8; P for trend = 0.013). Compared with women without residential farm history, odds of having RA increased for those reporting a childhood-only farm residence with personal exposure to pesticides used on crops (OR = 1.8, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 2.9) or livestock (OR = 2.0, 95% confidence interval: 1.2, 3.3). Our findings suggest adult-onset RA may be related to childhood exposure to residential and agricultural pesticides, and support further investigations of lifetime pesticide use in RA.

Characterization of organophosphate pesticides in urine and home environment dust in an agricultural community

CONTEXT

Organophosphorus insecticides (OPs) have been used to control agricultural pests found in Washington state. Farmworkers (FW) have higher exposure to OP pesticides than non-farmworkers (NFW), and FW children may in turn have higher exposure than NFW children.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between the concentration in house dust of five OPs used commonly in pome fruit orchards and the concentration in urine of dialkylphosphate metabolites (DAP), in a cohort of Hispanic FW and NFW and their children.

METHODS

Parents and children participated in three data collection periods over the course of one year. Urine samples were evaluated for the DAPs characteristic of OP exposure, and dust from homes and vehicles was evaluated for intact OP residues.

RESULTS

Geometric mean (GM) concentrations of OPs in house and vehicle dust were higher in FW households than NFW households in all agricultural seasons. GM concentration of urinary DAPs was higher for children in FW households than NFW households.

DISCUSSION

Regression analysis found a positive association between OP residues in house dust and the children's urinary DAPs.

CONCLUSIONS

To our knowledge, this study is the first to report an association between pesticides in house dust and their biological metabolites in urine.

Acetylcholinesterase activity and time after a peak pesticide-use period among Ecuadorian children

PURPOSE

Mother's Day (May) is a holiday with substantial demand for flowers, associated with heightened flower production and escalated pesticide use. The effect of spray seasons on pesticide exposures of children living in agricultural communities but who do not work in agriculture is poorly understood. In this study, we estimated the association of time after Mother's Day harvest with children's acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. AChE is a physiological marker of organophosphate/carbamate pesticide exposures that may take up to 3 months to normalize after its inhibition.

METHODS

We examined 308 children, aged 4-9 years, in Ecuadorian agricultural communities during a low flower-production season but within 63-100 days (mean: 81.5 days, SD: 10.9) after Mother's Day harvest. We quantified AChE activity (mean: 3.14 U/mL, SD: 0.49) from a single finger-stick sample.

RESULTS

We observed positive linear associations between time after the harvest and AChE among participants living near plantations. The associations were strongest among participants living within 233 m [(0.15 U/mL (95% CI 0.02, 0.28)], slightly weaker among participants living within 234-532 m [0.11 U/mL (0.00, 0.23)], and not associated among participants at greater distances. Similar findings were observed across categories of areas of flower plantations within 500 m of homes.

CONCLUSIONS

These cross-sectional findings suggest that a peak pesticide-use period can decrease AChE activity of children living near plantations. These seasonal pesticide exposures could induce short- and long-term developmental alterations in children. Studies assessing exposures at multiple times in relation to pesticide spray seasons among children who do not work in agriculture are needed.

Review of take-home pesticide exposure pathway in children living in agricultural areas

BACKGROUND

Children of farmworkers may be chronically exposed to pesticides via the take-home exposure pathway.

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this review was to analyze scientific literature evaluating the role of the take-home pesticide exposure pathway in children of agricultural workers.

METHODS

A systematic review was undertaken and inclusion criteria were applied to identify original articles of interest. Of the 30 articles included in this review, some belonged to the same studies, resulting in a total of 23 studies. Eight studies assessed environmental samples, nine collected biological samples, and the remaining six analyzed both. Eleven studies compared pesticide levels between farm and non-farm families.

RESULTS

There is convincing evidence that children of farmworkers are exposed to pesticides at higher levels than "non-agricultural" children, even when residing in the same agricultural communities. These levels were shown to depend on the season, occupation, number of farmworkers per home, and type of crops. Other factors such as age, gender and, sex seem to also influence this pathway. Some studies have shown that pesticides used solely in agriculture are found only in households of farmworkers spraying these pesticides. Moreover, intervention studies have shown that behaviors among farmworkers can significantly lower exposure of people living in the same households as farmworkers.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The evidence presented here raises concerns regarding health effects associated with exposure to pesticides in children living in agricultural communities, and indicates that strategies should be developed to reduce exposures in these populations.

Seasonal and occupational trends of five organophosphate pesticides in house dust

Since 1998, the University of Washington's Center for Child Environmental Health Risks Research has followed a community-based participatory research strategy in the Lower Yakima Valley of Washington State to assess pesticide exposure among families of Hispanic farmworkers. As a part of this longitudinal study, house dust samples were collected from both farmworker and non-farmworker households, across three agricultural seasons (thinning, harvest and non-spray). The household dust samples were analyzed for five organophosphate pesticides: azinphos-methyl, phosmet, malathion, diazinon, and chlorpyrifos. Organophosphate pesticide levels in house dust were generally reflective of annual use rates and varied by occupational status and agricultural season. Overall, organophosphate pesticide concentrations were higher in the thinning and harvest seasons than in the non-spray season. Azinphos-methyl was found in the highest concentrations across all seasons and occupations. Farmworker house dust had between 5- and 9-fold higher concentrations of azinphos-methyl than non-farmworker house dust. Phosmet was found in 5-7-fold higher concentrations in farmworker house dust relative to non-farmworker house dust. Malathion and chlorpyriphos concentrations in farmworker house dust ranged between 1.8- and 9.8-fold higher than non-farmworker house dust. Diazinon showed a defined seasonal pattern that peaked in the harvest season and did not significantly differ between farmworker and non-farmworker house dust. The observed occupational differences in four out of five of the pesticide residues measured provides evidence supporting an occupational take home pathway, in which workers may bring pesticides home on their skin or clothing. Further, these results demonstrate the ability of dust samples to inform the episodic nature of organophosphate pesticide exposures and the need to collect multiple samples for complete characterization of exposure potential.

Relative Contributions of Agricultural Drift, Para-Occupational, and Residential Use Exposure Pathways to House Dust Pesticide Concentrations: Meta-Regression of Published Data

BACKGROUND

Increased pesticide concentrations in house dust in agricultural areas have been attributed to several exposure pathways, including agricultural drift, para-occupational, and residential use.

OBJECTIVE

To guide future exposure assessment efforts, we quantified relative contributions of these pathways using meta-regression models of published data on dust pesticide concentrations.

METHODS

From studies in North American agricultural areas published from 1995 to 2015, we abstracted dust pesticide concentrations reported as summary statistics [e.g., geometric means (GM)]. We analyzed these data using mixed-effects meta-regression models that weighted each summary statistic by its inverse variance. Dependent variables were either the log-transformed GM (drift) or the log-transformed ratio of GMs from two groups (para-occupational, residential use).

RESULTS

For the drift pathway, predicted GMs decreased sharply and nonlinearly, with GMs 64% lower in homes 250 m versus 23 m from fields (interquartile range of published data) based on 52 statistics from seven studies. For the para-occupational pathway, GMs were 2.3 times higher [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.5, 3.3; 15 statistics, five studies] in homes of farmers who applied pesticides more recently or frequently versus less recently or frequently. For the residential use pathway, GMs were 1.3 (95% CI: 1.1, 1.4) and 1.5 (95% CI: 1.2, 1.9) times higher in treated versus untreated homes, when the probability that a pesticide was used for the pest treatment was 1-19% and ≥ 20%, respectively (88 statistics, five studies).

CONCLUSION

Our quantification of the relative contributions of pesticide exposure pathways in agricultural populations could improve exposure assessments in epidemiologic studies. The meta-regression models can be updated when additional data become available. Citation: Deziel NC, Beane Freeman LE, Graubard BI, Jones RR, Hoppin JA, Thomas K, Hines CJ, Blair A, Sandler DP, Chen H, Lubin JH, Andreotti G, Alavanja MC, Friesen MC. 2017. Relative contributions of agricultural drift, para-occupational, and residential use exposure pathways to house dust pesticide concentrations: meta-regression of published data. Environ Health Perspect 125:296-305; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP426.

Human Oral Buccal Microbiomes Are Associated with Farmworker Status and Azinphos-Methyl Agricultural Pesticide Exposure

In a longitudinal agricultural community cohort sampling of 65 adult farmworkers and 52 adult nonfarmworkers, we investigated agricultural pesticide exposure-associated changes in the oral buccal microbiota. We found a seasonally persistent association between the detected blood concentration of the insecticide azinphos-methyl and the taxonomic composition of the buccal swab oral microbiome. Blood and buccal samples were collected concurrently from individual subjects in two seasons, spring/summer 2005 and winter 2006. Mass spectrometry quantified blood concentrations of the organophosphate insecticide azinphos-methyl. Buccal oral microbiome samples were 16S rRNA gene DNA sequenced, assigned to the bacterial taxonomy, and analyzed after "centered-log-ratio" transformation to handle the compositional nature of the proportional abundances of bacteria per sample. Nonparametric analysis of the transformed microbiome data for individuals with and without azinphos-methyl blood detection showed significant perturbations in seven common bacterial taxa (>0.5% of sample mean read depth), including significant reductions in members of the common oral bacterial genus Streptococcus Diversity in centered-log-ratio composition between individuals' microbiomes was also investigated using principal-component analysis (PCA) to reveal two primary PCA clusters of microbiome types. The spring/summer "exposed" microbiome cluster with significantly less bacterial diversity was enriched for farmworkers and contained 27 of the 30 individuals who also had azinphos-methyl agricultural pesticide exposure detected in the blood.

IMPORTANCE

In this study, we show in human subjects that organophosphate pesticide exposure is associated with large-scale significant alterations of the oral buccal microbiota composition, with extinctions of whole taxa suggested in some individuals. The persistence of this association from the spring/summer to the winter also suggests that long-lasting effects on the commensal microbiota have occurred. The important health-related outcomes of these agricultural community individuals' pesticide-associated microbiome perturbations are not understood at this time. Future investigations should index medical and dental records for common and chronic diseases that may be interactively caused by this association between pesticide exposure and microbiome alteration.

Learning Ability as a Function of Practice: Does It Apply to Farmworkers?

OBJECTIVE

Farmworkers experience significant work-related health risks including pesticide-associated cognitive impairment. Practice effect is a surrogate for learning ability. This study examined differences in cognitive function and learning capacity in Latino farmworkers and nonfarmworkers.

METHODS

Tasks of learning and short-term memory, executive function and working memory, perceptual coding, and psychomotor function were assessed at baseline and 3-month follow-up in 136 farmworkers and 116 nonfarmworkers.

RESULTS

Farmworkers had better performance on visuospatial learning and short-term memory at baseline (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, nonfarmworkers showed more practice effects, or improvement on cognitive performance, at 3-month follow-up relative to farmworkers. Furthermore, the amount of improvement on visuospatial learning ability, short-term visuospatial memory, and perceptual coding ability was significantly higher in nonfarmworkers than in farmworkers.

CONCLUSIONS

Practice effects may serve as an additional cognitive readout to differentiate healthy individuals from those with cognitive impairment.

The role of diet in children's exposure to organophosphate pesticides

BACKGROUND

Studies suggest that some of the greatest exposure to OPs in children occurs in agricultural communities and various pathways of exposure including the take-home pathway, proximity to orchards, and diet have been explored. However, the importance of the dietary pathway of exposure for children in agricultural communities is not well understood.

OBJECTIVES

Our goal was to ascertain whether there were associations between measures of OP exposure and apple juice, fruit, and vegetable consumption across growing seasons by children of farmworkers and non-farmworkers in a rural agricultural setting.

METHODS

Study participants were children of farmworker (N=100) or non-farmworker (N=100) households from a longitudinal cohort study. Dietary intake of fruits and vegetables was assessed using a "5-A-Day" abbreviated food frequency questionnaire, and exposure to OPs was characterized using three urinary di-methyl and three di-ethyl metabolite measurements per child for each of three growing seasons. We used generalized estimating equations to examine data.

RESULTS

Consumption frequency of fruits and vegetables was similar between children of farmworkers and non-farmworkers and across seasons. There were a few significant trends between dimethyl metabolites (DMAP) and fruit, vegetable or apple juice consumption; however, no clear pattern held across seasons or occupation. One difference was found in vegetable consumption during the harvest season, where the farmworker families showed a significant relationship between vegetable consumption and dimethyl metabolite levels (p=0.002). We also found a significant difference in this relationship between farmworkers and non-farmworkers (p=0.001). No significant trends between fruit and vegetable consumption and diethyl (DEAP) metabolites were found.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study shows the importance of considering season and parents' occupation in understanding OP exposure routes among children in an agricultural community. The impact of these factors on dietary OP exposure requires a more thorough analysis of the availability and consumption of produce from different sources including farms using pesticides where parents worked.

Urinary microRNAs as potential biomarkers of pesticide exposure

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are post-transcriptional regulators that silence messenger RNAs. Because miRNAs are stable at room temperature and long-lived, they have been proposed as molecular biomarkers to monitor disease and exposure status. While urinary miRNAs have been used clinically as potential diagnostic markers for kidney and bladder cancers and other diseases, their utility in non-clinical settings has yet to be fully developed. Our goal was to investigate the potential for urinary miRNAs to act as biomarkers of pesticide exposure and early biological response by identifying the miRNAs present in urine from 27 parent/child, farmworker/non-farmworker pairs (16FW/11NFW) collected during two agricultural seasons (thinning and post-harvest) and characterizing the between- and within-individual variability of these miRNA epigenetic regulators. MiRNAs were isolated from archived urine samples and identified using PCR arrays. Comparisons were made between age, households, season, and occupation. Of 384 miRNAs investigated, 297 (77%) were detectable in at least one sample. Seven miRNAs were detected in at least 50% of the samples, and one miRNA was present in 96% of the samples. Principal components and hierarchical clustering analyses indicate significant differences in miRNA profiles between farmworker and non-farmworker adults as well as between seasons. Six miRNAs were observed to be positively associated with farmworkers status during the post-harvest season. Expression of five of these miRNA trended towards a positive dose response relationship with organophosphate pesticide metabolites in farmworkers. These results suggest that miRNAs may be novel biomarkers of pesticide exposure and early biological response.

Seasonal variation in cortisol biomarkers in Hispanic mothers living in an agricultural region

CONTEXT

Characterization of stress exposure requires understanding seasonal variability in stress biomarkers.

OBJECTIVE

To compare acute and chronic stress biomarkers between two seasons in a cohort of rural, Hispanic mothers.

METHODS

Stress questionnaires and cortisol measurements (hair, blood and saliva) were collected in the summer and fall.

RESULTS

Cortisol biomarkers were significantly different and stress questionnaires were significantly correlated between seasons.

DISCUSSION

The variability in cortisol and relative stability of questionnaires between seasons may indicate that cortisol responds to subtle stressors not addressed in questionnaires.

CONCLUSIONS

There are significant differences in stress biomarkers in our cohort between seasons.

The Impact of Head Start Enrollment Duration on Migrant Children's Health Outcomes

The purpose of this study is to examine whether family characteristics and the length of children's enrollment in Migrant Head Start affects children's health treatment. Children in the Michigan Migrant Head Start were classified depending on years of enrollments: One year (n = 638), two years (n = 293), and three or more years (n = 426). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine whether the probability of children receiving health treatment differed depending on years of enrollment. There is a higher health treatment rate among children who attended Head Start for multiple years than for those who attended for one year. Children's special needs status, of siblings, ethnicity, parental educational level, and marital status were related to preventative dental and physical health treatment outcomes. Although the primary goal of Head Start is school readiness rather than health improvement, migrant and seasonal farmworker children are likely to receive more health treatment if they attend more years of comprehensive intervention, such as Head Start, for positive physical and dental health.