Nonagricultural and residential exposures to pesticides

Epidemiologic studies and risk assessments conducted to assess the chronic effects of pesticides are limited by inadequate measurements of pesticide exposures, and surrogates for these data are frequently used. In this paper, pesticide use and absorbed dose previously measured in residential and occupational settings are used to evaluate the hypothesis that there is a relationship between pesticide use and exposure. For homeowner applicators of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and chlorpyrifos, exposures were poorly correlated with the amount of herbicide used (r2 = 0.01 to 0.40); however, exposures from a granular product were consistently less than those with liquid formulation. For professional landscape applicators, exposure over 14 days and 7 days of use was poorly correlated with the amount of 2,4-D sprayed (r2 = 0.17 and 0.21, respectively). However, inclusion of the type of spray nozzle used and the use of gloves while spraying in the model explained increased predictability and explained 68% of the variation.