Characterizing the Neurodevelopmental Pesticide Exposome in a Children’s Agricultural Cohort

Breana Bennett, Tomomi Workman, Marissa N. Smith, William C. Griffith, Beti Thompson and Elaine M. Faustman
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Breana Bennett: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, DC 98105, USA
Tomomi Workman: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, DC 98105, USA
Marissa N. Smith: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, DC 98105, USA
William C. Griffith: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, DC 98105, USA
Beti Thompson: Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, DC 98105, USA
Elaine M. Faustman: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, DC 98105, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: The exposome provides a conceptual model for identifying and characterizing lifetime environmental exposures and resultant health effects. In this study, we applied key exposome concepts to look specifically at the neurodevelopmental pesticide exposome, which focuses on exposures to pesticides that have the potential to cause an adverse neurodevelopmental impact. Using household dust samples from a children’s agricultural cohort located in the Yakima Valley of Washington state, we identified 87 individual pesticides using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 47 of these have evidence of neurotoxicity included in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (re)registration materials. We used a mixed effects model to model trends in pesticide exposure. Over the two study years (2005 and 2011), we demonstrate a significant decrease in the neurodevelopmental pesticide exposome across the cohort, but particularly among farmworker households. Additional analysis with a non-parametric binomial analysis that weighted the levels of potentially neurotoxic pesticides detected in household dust by their reference doses revealed that the decrease in potentially neurotoxic pesticides was largely a result of decreases in some of the most potent neurotoxicants. Overall, this study provides evidence that the neurodevelopmental pesticide exposome framework is a useful tool in assessing the effectiveness of specific interventions in reducing exposure as well as setting priorities for future targeted actions.

Keywords: dust analysis; environmental exposure analysis; farmers; longitudinal studies; pesticides analysis; neurodevelopment; exposome; occupational exposure analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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