Variation Across the Agricultural Season in Organophosphorus Pesticide Urinary Metabolite Levels for Latino Farmworkers in Eastern North Carolina: Project Design and Descriptive Results
Author: Arcury,Thomas A.
Date Published: 2009
This study presents an overview of the Community Participatory Approach to Measuring Farmworker Pesticide Exposure, PACE3. It provides a descriptive analysis of participant characteristics and one set of pesticide biomarkers, the dialkylphosphate (DAP) urinary metabolites of organophosphorus (OP) pesticides. Two hundred eighty seven farmworkers were recruited during 2007 from 44 farmworker camps in 11 eastern North Carolina counties. Participants provided interviews, urine samples, blood samples, and saliva samples up to four times at monthly intervals beginning in May. A total of 939 data points were collected. The study found that more PACE3 participants were from Mexico, male, migrant workers, and spoke an indigenous language compared to national data. PACE3 participants had comparable frequencies of detection and urinary metabolite concentrations with participants in other studies. Variability in the frequencies of detection and urinary concentrations of the DAP metabolites indicates the importance of longitudinal studies of biomarkers of currently used pesticides in farmworker populations.
Date Published: 2009
This study presents an overview of the Community Participatory Approach to Measuring Farmworker Pesticide Exposure, PACE3. It provides a descriptive analysis of participant characteristics and one set of pesticide biomarkers, the dialkylphosphate (DAP) urinary metabolites of organophosphorus (OP) pesticides. Two hundred eighty seven farmworkers were recruited during 2007 from 44 farmworker camps in 11 eastern North Carolina counties. Participants provided interviews, urine samples, blood samples, and saliva samples up to four times at monthly intervals beginning in May. A total of 939 data points were collected. The study found that more PACE3 participants were from Mexico, male, migrant workers, and spoke an indigenous language compared to national data. PACE3 participants had comparable frequencies of detection and urinary metabolite concentrations with participants in other studies. Variability in the frequencies of detection and urinary concentrations of the DAP metabolites indicates the importance of longitudinal studies of biomarkers of currently used pesticides in farmworker populations.
