Pesticides in Dust from Homes in an Agricultural Area
We collected indoor dust samples from homes in the Salinas Valley of California. Of 22 pesticides measured in 504 samples, permethrins and the organophosphate chlorpyrifos were present in highest amounts. In multivariate Tobit regression models among samples from 197 separate residences, reported agricultural uses of chlorpyrifos, a herbicide (2,3,5,6-tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA)), and a fungicide (iprodione) on agricultural fields were significantly (p < 0.01) associated, with 83%, 19%, and 49% increases, respectively, in dust concentrations for each kg applied per day, near participant homes, in the month or season prior to sample collection. However, agricultural use of diazinon, which was 2.2 times that of chlorpyrifos, and of permethrin were not significantly associated with dust levels. Other variables independently associated with dust levels included temperature and rainfall, farmworkers storing work shoes in the home, storing a diazinon product in the home, housing density, having a home less clean, and having an air conditioner. Permethrins, chlorpyrifos, DCPA, and iprodione have either a log octanol−water partition coefficient (Kow) greater than 4.0, a very low vapor pressure, or both. Health risk assessments for pesticides that have these properties may need to include evaluation of exposures to house dust.
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Martha E. Harnly*†, Asa Bradman‡, Marcia Nishioka§, Thomas E. McKone
, Daniel Smith†, Robert McLaughlin†, Geri Kavanagh-Baird‡, Rosemary Castorina‡ and Brenda Eskenazi‡
, Daniel Smith†, Robert McLaughlin†, Geri Kavanagh-Baird‡, Rosemary Castorina‡ and Brenda Eskenazi‡ Environmental Health Investigations Branch, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, California, Center for Children's Environmental Health Research, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California, Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
Environ. Sci. Technol., Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/es9020958
Publication Date (Web): October 30, 2009
