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Quantification of children's hand and mouthing activities through a videotaping methodology
K J Reed1, M Jimenez, N C Freeman
1Joint Program in Exposure Assessment, Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, USA.
Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology
|November 30, 1999
Summary
This study developed a reliable videotaping method to measure children's hand-to-mouth behaviors, finding significantly higher contact rates than previously estimated. These findings are crucial for assessing children's exposure to environmental pollutants.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Child Development
- Toxicology
Background:
- Children's hand-to-mouth behaviors are a primary pathway for exposure to environmental pollutants.
- Accurate quantification of these behaviors is essential for robust risk assessment.
- Existing estimates of hand-to-mouth contact rates may not fully capture real-world frequencies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a videotaping methodology for quantifying children's hand and mouthing activities.
- To assess the frequency of hand-to-mouth contacts in young children in daycare and residential settings.
- To compare observed contact rates with existing regulatory default values.
Main Methods:
- A videotaping methodology was employed to record hand and mouthing activities of children aged 2-6 years in daycare and residential environments.
- Parental questionnaires were used to evaluate the accuracy of self-reported hand-to-mouth rates.
- Trained observers quantified activities from videotapes, with inter-rater reliability assessed throughout the study.
Main Results:
- The developed videotaping method demonstrated very good reliability, even over a year post-training.
- The average observed hand-to-mouth frequency rate was 9.5 contacts per hour.
- This observed rate is substantially higher than the 1.56 contacts per hour value considered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Conclusions:
- The videotaping methodology provides a reliable and accurate means to quantify children's hand-to-mouth behaviors.
- Observed hand-to-mouth contact frequencies in children are significantly higher than current default estimates used in risk assessments.
- These findings necessitate a re-evaluation of exposure assessment models for environmental pollutants in children.