EVALUATION OF METHODS FOR MONITORING THE POTENTIAL EXPOSURE OF SMALL CHILDREN TO PESTICIDES IN THE RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENT

A nine-home pilot study was conducted to evaluate monitoring methods i n the field that may be used to assess the potential exposures of chil dren aged 6 months to 5 years to pesticides found in the home environm ent. Several methods, some of which were newly developed in this study , were tested for measuring pesticide residues in indoor air, carpet d ust, outdoor soil, and on the children's hands. Information was also c ollected on household characteristics, pesticides used and stored at t he residence, and children's activities. Pesticides were detected at a ll nine study homes. With the exception of one home, at least one pest icide was detected in all matrices sampled at each house. Of the 30 ta rget pesticides, 23 were detected during the study. The most frequentl y detected pesticides were chlordane, chlorpyrifos, dieldrin, heptachl or, and pentachlorophenol. The greatest number of pesticides and highe st concentrations were found in carpet dust. The results of these inve stigations will be discussed in terms of performance of the methods an d the distribution of pesticides across the various media sampled.