Review of the published exposure data to pesticides for residents and bystanders, and for environmental risk assessment: Final report (original) (raw)
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Human exposure and risk assessment to airborne pesticides in a rural French community
The Science of the total environment, 2017
Outdoor air samples collected during the pesticide agricultural application period (spring and summer) from a rural community in the Centre Region (France) were analyzed to investigate temporal variation of atmospheric pesticide levels (2006-2013) and human inhalation exposure in adults, children and infants. The most frequently detected pesticides were herbicides (trifluralin, pendimethalin), fungicides (chlorothalonil) and insecticides (lindane and α-endosulfan). The three currently-used pesticides most frequently detected presented concentrations ranging from 0.18 to 1128.38ngm(-3); 0.13 to 117.32ngm(-3) and 0.16 to 25.80ngm(-3) for chlorothalonil, pendimethalin and trifluralin, respectively. The estimated chronic inhalation risk, expressed as Hazard Quotient (HQ), for adults, children and infants, was <1 for all measured pesticides. Likewise, the cumulative exposure for detected organophosphorus and chloroacetamide pesticides, was estimated using the Relative Potency Factor (...
EFSA Journal, 2014
Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 ensures that the residues of plant protection products (PPPs), consequent to application consistent with good plant protection practice and having regard to realistic conditions of use, shall not have any harmful effects on human health. In 2010, the EFSA Panel on Plant Protection Products and their Residues (PPR) prepared a Scientific Opinion on "Preparation of a Guidance Document on Pesticide Exposure Assessment for Workers, Operators, Residents and Bystanders", which highlighted some inconsistencies between the approaches adopted by regulatory authorities. Therefore, the PPR Panel proposed a number of changes to those practices in use (e.g. routine risk assessment for individual PPPs should continue to use deterministic methods, and a tiered approach to exposure assessment remains appropriate; there is a need to introduce an acute risk assessment for operators, workers and bystanders where PPPs are acutely toxic; for acute risk assessments, exposure estimates should normally be based on 95 th percentiles of relevant datasets, whereas, for longer term risk assessments, the starting point should be a 75 th percentile). To prepare a Guidance Document, an ad hoc working group was established to revise all available data and procedures to perform the operator, worker, resident and bystander risk assessment. In addition to the data reported in the PPR opinion, further data were made available to the working group which were analysed and considered. The opinion also identifies those scenarios for which exposure estimates are least satisfactory, and makes recommendations for further research that would reduce current uncertainties. An exposure calculation spreadsheet, reflecting the Guidance content, is annexed to this Guidance Document, to support stakeholders in performing the assessment of exposure and risk.
Community Exposures to Airborne Agricultural Pesticides in California: Ranking of Inhalation Risks
2002
We assessed inhalation risks to California communities from airborne agricultural pesticides by probability distribution analysis using ambient air data provided by the California Air Resources Board and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. The pesticides evaluated include chloropicrin, chlorothalonil, chlorpyrifos, S,S,S-tributyl phosphorotrithioate, diazinon, 1,3dichloropropene, dichlorvos (naled breakdown product), endosulfan, eptam, methidathion, methyl bromide, methyl isothiocyanate (MITC; metam sodium breakdown product), molinate, propargite, and simazine. Risks were estimated for the median and 75th and 95th percentiles of probability (50, 25, and 5% of the exposed populations). Exposure estimates greater than or equal to noncancer reference values occurred for 50% of the exposed populations (adults and children) for MITC subchronic and chronic exposures, methyl bromide subchronic exposures (year 2000 monitoring), and 1,3-dichloropropene subchronic exposures (1990 monitoring). Short-term chlorpyrifos exposure estimates exceeded the acute reference value for 50% of children (not adults) in the exposed population. Noncancer risks were uniformly higher for children due to a proportionately greater inhalation rate-to-body weight ratio compared to adults and other factors. Target health effects of potential concern for these exposures include neurologic effects (methyl bromide and chlorpyrifos) and respiratory effects (1,3-dichloropropene and MITC). The lowest noncancer risks occurred for simazine and chlorothalonil. Lifetime cancer risks of one-in-a-million or greater were estimated for 50% of the exposed population for 1,3-dichloropropene (1990 monitoring) and 25% of the exposed populations for methidathion and molinate. Pesticide vapor pressure was found to be a better predictor of inhalation risk compared to other methods of ranking pesticides as potential toxic air contaminants.
Comparison of risks from outdoor and indoor exposure to toxic chemicals
Environmental Health Perspectives, 1991
Environmental Protection Agenc TEAM a l Exposure Assessment Measurement) Studies have measured exposures ofabout 800 persons to 25 volatile organic compounds (W)Cs) and exposures ofabout 300 persons to 32 pesticides. These persons were selected to represent more than 1 million residents ofindustrial manufacturing cities such as Bayonne and Elizabeth, NewJersey, and Los Angeles, California; cities with light industry, such as Greensboro, North Carolina, and Baltimore, Marylad; rural areas such as Devils Lake, North Dakota; and cities with high pesticide use such as Jacksonville, Florida, as wel as low-to-moderte pesticide use such as Springfield, Massachusetts. The TEAM data provide an opportunity toestmate the risks from aibr exposure to a numberof scted forasubstantal number ofpersons residing in a wide variety of urban, suburban, and rural areas. Because all ofthe TEAM Studies measured outdoor concentrations near the homes of the participants, it is possible to appwtiontherisksbetweenoutdoorand indoorsources. Upper-bond lfetme risks ofcancerarecaulatedforboth indoor and outdoor sources of 12 VOCs and about 23 pesticides measred in the TEAM Studies. These risk calculatons are supplementedby basedonotherstudiesforsome al pllut , i radon andenvi enl tobacco smoke. The relationship ofthese upper-bound risk estimates to "best-guess" values is discussed. Sharper estimates of risk based on identifying populdation subgroups exposed to major sources are also dissed. Important pps in our knowledge of exposure measurements are identified, e.g., particulates (including polyaromatic hydrocarbons); 1,3-butadiene, asbestos, chromium, cadmium, arsenic, vinyl chloride, methylene chloride, and most polar organics.
Pesticide Exposure, Safety Issues, and Risk Assessment Indicators
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2011
Pesticides are widely used in agricultural production to prevent or control pests, diseases, weeds, and other plant pathogens in an effort to reduce or eliminate yield losses and maintain high product quality. Although pesticides are developed through very strict regulation processes to function with reasonable certainty and minimal impact on human health and the environment, serious concerns have been raised about health risks resulting from occupational exposure and from residues in food and drinking water. Occupational exposure to pesticides often occurs in the case of agricultural workers in open fields and greenhouses, workers in the pesticide industry, and exterminators of house pests. Exposure of the general population to pesticides occurs primarily through eating food and drinking water contaminated with pesticide residues, whereas substantial exposure can also occur in or around the home. Regarding the adverse effects on the environment (water, soil and air contamination from leaching, runoff, and spray drift, as well as the detrimental effects on wildlife, fish, plants, and other non-target organisms), many of these effects depend on the toxicity of the pesticide, the measures taken during its application, the dosage applied, the adsorption on soil colloids, the weather conditions prevailing after application, and how long the pesticide persists in the environment. Therefore, the risk assessment of the impact of pesticides either on human health or on the environment is not an easy and particularly accurate process because of differences in the periods and levels of exposure, the types of pesticides used (regarding toxicity and persistence), and the environmental characteristics OPEN ACCESS
Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology, 1999
A major objective of the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS) performed in Arizona was to conduct residential environmental and biomarker measurements of selected pesticides (chlorpyrifos, diazinon), volatile organic compounds (VOCs; benzene, toluene, trichloroethene, formaldehyde, 1,3-butadiene), and metals for total human exposure assessments. Both personal (e.g., blood, urine, dermal wipes, 24 h duplicate diet) and microenvironmental (e.g., indoor and outdoor air, house dust, foundation soil) samples were collected in each home in order to describe individual exposure via ingestion, inhalation, and dermal pathways, and to extrapolate trends to larger populations. This paper is a preliminary report of only the microenvironmental and dermal wipe data obtained for the target pesticides and VOCs, and provides comparisons with results from similar studies. Evaluations of total exposure from all sources and pathways will be addressed in future papers. The pesticides and VOCs all showed log-normal distributions of concentrations in the Arizona population sampled, and in most cases were detected with sufficient frequency to allow unequivocal description of the concentration by media at the 90th, 75th, and 50th (median) percentiles. Those combinations of pollutant and media, in which a large fraction of the measurements were below the detection limit of the analysis method used, included trichloroethene, 1,3-butadiene, and formaldehyde in outdoor air; chlorpyrifos and diazinon in outdoor air; and diazinon in dermal and window sill wipes. In general, indoor air concentrations were higher than outdoor air concentrations for all VOCs and pesticides investigated, and VOC levels were in good agreement with levels reported in other studies. In addition, the agreement obtained between co-located VOC samplers indicated that the low-cost diffusional badges used to measure concentrations are probably adequate for use in future monitoring studies. For the pesticides, the median levels found in indoor samples agreed well with other studies, although the levels corresponding to the upper 0.1±1% of the population were considerably higher than levels reported elsewhere, with indoor air levels as high as 3.3 and 20.5 g /m 3 for chlorpyrifos and diazinon, respectively. These data showed excellent correlation (Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients of 0.998 and 0.998, respectively) between chlorpyrifos in indoor air and in the corresponding dermal wipes, and relatively poor correlation between chlorpyrifos in dust (g /g or g /m 2 ) and dermal wipes (Pearson=0.055 g /g and 0.015 g /m 2 ; Spearman=0.644 g /g and 0.578 g /m 2 ). These data suggest the importance of dermal penetration of semi-volatiles as a route of residential human exposure.
Non-occupational exposures to pesticides for residents of two U.S. cities
Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 1994
The Non-Occupational Pesticide Exposure Study, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was designed to assess total human exposures to 32 pesticides and pesticide degradation products in the non-occupational environment; however, the study focused primarily on inhalation exposures. Two sites--Jacksonville, Florida (USA) and Springfield/ Chicopee, Massachusetts (USA)--were studied during three seasons: Summer 1986 (Jacksonville only), Spring 1987, and Winter 1988. Probability samples of 49 to 72 persons participated in individual site/seasons. The primary environmental monitoring consisted of 24-hr indoor, personal, and outdoor air samples analyzed by gas chromtography/mass spectrometry and gas chromatography/electron capture detection. Indoor and personal air concentrations tended to be higher in Jacksonville than in Springfield/Chicopee. Concentrations tended to be highest in summer, lower in spring, and lowest in winter. Indoor and personal air concentrations were generally comparable and were usually much higher than outdoor air concentrations. Inhalation exposure exceeded dietary exposure for cyclodiene termiticides and for pesticides used mainly in the home. Dietary exposures were greater for many of the other pesticides. Inhalation risks were uncertain for termiticides (depending on rates of degradation) but were negligible for other pesticides. The data were insufficient to support risk assessments for food, dermal contact, or house dust exposures.
Journal of the American College of Toxicology, 1989
N 1979, THE U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began a long-term series of studies I known generically as the Total Exposure Assessment Methodology (TEAM) studies. TEAM studies have been carried out in about a dozen U.S. cities and have involved more than 2000 participants. Since the participants were selected using a strict probabilistic sampling frame, they actually represent a much larger population, perhaps 3 million U.S. citizens in all. These studies have been carried out on three pollutants or groups of pollutants: volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), and pesticides. In this paper, I will limit my attention to the studies of VOCs. The CO studies have been published as EPA and as journal articles.(3,4) The final report on the pesticide studies have not yet been published, although one article on the nine-home pilot study has been published(5) and a progress report on the main study is available.c6) Perhaps the major contribution of the TEAM studies has been their emphasis on the following two concepts: 1. Direct measurement of personal exposure-particularly by means of personal air monitors-but also including other sources of direct exposure such as food, beverages, and drinking water 2. A survey design involving stratified probabilistic sampling to allow extrapolation of the results to a much larger population Probably the central finding of all of these studies has been that the major sources of exposure to all chemical groups studied have been small and close to the person, usually inside his or her home. This finding is so at odds with the conventional wisdom (that the major sources are industry, autos, urban areas, incinerators, landfills, and hazardous waste sites) that it seems safe to say that most decision makers have not yet grasped its import. For example, if these studies are correct, it makes little sense to spend millions of dollars a year monitoring the outdoor air, since so little of our exposure is provided by that route. Likewise, the present allocation of