Jl. Adgate et al., Measurement of multi-pollutant and multi-pathway exposures in a probability-based sample of children: practical strategies for effective field studies, J EXP AN EN, 10(6), 2000, pp. 650-661
Citations number
9
Categorie Soggetti
Environment/Ecology
Journal title
JOURNAL OF EXPOSURE ANALYSIS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the practical strategies deve
loped for the implementation of the Minnesota Children's Pesticide Exposure
Study (MNCPES), which is one of the first probability-based samples of mul
ti-pathway and multi-pesticide exposures in children. The primary objective
of MNCPES was to characterize children's exposure to selected pesticides t
hrough a combination of questionnaires, personal exposure measurements (i.e
., air, duplicate diet, hand rinse), and complementary monitoring of biolog
ical samples ( i.e., pesticide metabolites in urine), environmental samples
( i.e., residential indoor/outdoor air, drinking water, dust on residentia
l surfaces, soil), and children's activity patterns. A cross-sectional desi
gn employing a stratified random sample was used to identify homes with age
-eligible children and screen residences to facilitate oversampling of hous
eholds with higher potential exposures. Numerous techniques were employed i
n the study, including in-person contact by locally based interviewers, bri
ef and highly focused home visits, graduated subject incentives, and traini
ng of parents and children to assist in sample collection. It is not feasib
le to quantify increases in rates of subject recruitment, retention, or com
pliance that resulted from the techniques employed in this study. Neverthel
ess, results indicate that the total package of implemented procedures was
instrumental in obtaining a high percentage of valid samples for targeted h
ouseholds and environmental media.