Merging models and biomonitoring data to characterize sources and pathways of human exposure to organophosphorous pesticides in the Salinas Valley of California

TitleMerging models and biomonitoring data to characterize sources and pathways of human exposure to organophosphorous pesticides in the Salinas Valley of California
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2007
AuthorsMcKone, Thomas E., Rosemary Castorina, Y. Kuwabara, Martha E. Harnly, Brenda Eskenazi, and Asa Bradman
JournalEnvironmental Science and Technology
Volume41
Start PageChapter
Pagination3233-3240
Abstract

By drawing on human biomonitoring data and limited environmental samples together with outputs from the CalTOX multimedia, multipathway source-to-dose model, we characterize cumulative intake of organophosphorous (OP) pesticides in an agricultural region of California. We assemble regional OP pesticide use, environmental sampling, and biological tissue monitoring data for a large and geographically dispersed population cohort of 592 pregnant Latina women in California (the CHAMACOS cohort). We then use CalTOX with regional pesticide usage data to estimate the magnitude and uncertainty of exposure and intake from local sources. We combine model estimates of intake from local sources with food intake based on national residue data to estimate for the CHAMACOS cohort cumulative median OP intake, which corresponds to expected levels of urinary dialkylphosphate (DAP) metabolite excretion for this cohort. From these results we develop premises about relative contributions from different sources and pathways of exposure. We evaluate these premises by comparing the magnitude and variation of DAPs in the CHAMACOS cohort with the whole U.S. population using data from the National Health and Nutrition Evaluation Survey (NHANES). This comparison supports the premise that in both populations diet is the common and dominant exposure pathway. Both the model results and biomarker comparison supports the observation that the CHAMACOS population has a statistically significant higher intake of OP pesticides that appears as an almost constant additional dose among all participants. We attribute the magnitude and small variance of this intake to non-dietary exposure in residences from local sources.