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• Coble, J
• Thomas, K
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• Hoppin, J
• Dosemeci, M
• Curwin, B
• Lubin, J
• Freeman, L
• Blair, A
• Sandler, D
• Alavanja, M
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• Coble, J
• Thomas, K
• Hines, C
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• Dosemeci, M
• Curwin, B
• Lubin, J
• Freeman, L
• Blair, A
• Sandler, D
• Alavanja, M
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• Thomas, K
• Hines, C
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Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2011, 8(12), 4608-4622; doi:10.3390/ijerph8124608

Article

An Updated Algorithm for Estimation of Pesticide Exposure Intensity in the Agricultural Health Study

Joseph Coble ^1,† , Kent W. Thomas ² , Cynthia J. Hines ³ , Jane A. Hoppin ⁴ , Mustafa Dosemeci ^1,† , Brian Curwin ³ , Jay H. Lubin ⁵ , Laura E. Beane Freeman ¹ , Aaron Blair ¹ , Dale P. Sandler ⁴  and Michael C. R. Alavanja ^1,*

¹ Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH/DHHS, 1620 Executive Blvd., Rockville, MD 20892, USA ² National Exposure Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, MD-E205-04, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA ³ National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 4676 Columbia Parkway R-14, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA ⁴ Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH/DHHS, MD-A3-05, P.O. Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA ⁵ Biostatistics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH/DHHS, 1620 Executive Blvd., Rockville, MD 20892, USA ^† Formerly with NCI OEEB.

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 11 November 2011; in revised form: 2 December 2011 / Accepted: 5 December 2011 / Published: 12 December 2011

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pesticides and Health)

Download PDF Full-Text [354 KB, uploaded 12 December 2011 11:46 CET]

Abstract: An algorithm developed to estimate pesticide exposure intensity for use in epidemiologic analyses was revised based on data from two exposure monitoring studies. In the first study, we estimated relative exposure intensity based on the results of measurements taken during the application of the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) (n = 88) and the insecticide chlorpyrifos (n = 17). Modifications to the algorithm weighting factors were based on geometric means (GM) of post-application urine concentrations for applicators grouped by application method and use of chemically-resistant (CR) gloves. Measurement data from a second study were also used to evaluate relative exposure levels associated with airblast as compared to hand spray application methods. Algorithm modifications included an increase in the exposure reduction factor for use of CR gloves from 40% to 60%, an increase in the application method weight for boom spray relative to in-furrow and for air blast relative to hand spray, and a decrease in the weight for mixing relative to the new weights assigned for application methods. The weighting factors for the revised algorithm now incorporate exposure measurements taken on Agricultural Health Study (AHS) participants for the application methods and personal protective equipment (PPE) commonly reported by study participants.

Keywords: pesticides; exposure algorithm; epidemiology; 2,4-D; chlorpyrifos; captan

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