title: Biomonitoring exposure assessment to contemporary pesticides in a school children population of Spain.
abstract: The exposure to pesticides amongst school-aged children (6-11 years old) was assessed in this study. One hundred twenty-five volunteer children were selected from two public schools located in an agricultural and in an urban area of Valencia Region, Spain. Twenty pesticide metabolites were analyzed in children's urine as biomarkers of exposure to organophosphate (OP) insecticides, synthetic pyrethroid insecticides, and herbicides. These data were combined with a survey to evaluate the main predictors of pesticide exposure in the children's population. A total of 15 metabolites were present in the urine samples with detection frequencies (DF) ranging from 5% to 86%. The most frequently detected metabolites with DF>53%, were 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy, metabolite of chlorpyrifos), diethyl phosphate (DEP, generic metabolite of OP insecticides), 2-isopropyl-4-methyl-6-hydroxypyrimidine (IMPY, metabolite of diazinon) and para-nitrophenol (PNP, metabolite of parathion and methyl parathion). The calculated geometric means ranged from 0.47 to 3.36 µg/g creatinine, with TCPy and IMPY showing the higher mean concentrations. Statistical significant differences were found between exposure subgroups (Mann-Whitney test, p<0.05) for TCPy, DEP, and IMPY. Children living in the agricultural area had significantly higher concentrations of DEP than those living in the urban area. In contrast, children aged 6-8 years from the urban area, showed statistically higher IMPY levels than those from agricultural area. Higher levels of TCPy were also found in children with high consumption of vegetables and higher levels of DEP in children whose parents did not have university degree studies. The multivariable regression analysis showed that age, vegetable consumption, and residential use of pesticides were predictors of exposure for TCPy, and IMPY; whereas location and vegetable consumption were factors associated with DEP concentrations. Creatinine concentrations were the most important predictors of urinary TCPy and PNP metabolites.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Public Health Research (CSISP-FISABIO), 21 Avenida Catalunya, 46020 Valencia, Spain; Laboratory of Public Health of Valencia, 21 Avenida Catalunya, 46020 Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roca
authors.affiliation: Centre of Public Health Research (CSISP-FISABIO), 21 Avenida Catalunya, 46020 Valencia, Spain; Laboratory of Public Health of Valencia, 21 Avenida Catalunya, 46020 Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miralles-Marco
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical and Organic Chemistry, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, C. Marcel·lí Domingo s/n, 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ferré
authors.affiliation: Centre of Public Health Research (CSISP-FISABIO), 21 Avenida Catalunya, 46020 Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.affiliation: Centre of Public Health Research (CSISP-FISABIO), 21 Avenida Catalunya, 46020 Valencia, Spain; Laboratory of Public Health of Valencia, 21 Avenida Catalunya, 46020 Valencia, Spain; Department of Analytical Chemistry, Chemistry University of Valencia, 50 Doctor Moliner, 46100 Burjassot, Spain. Electronic address: yusa_vic@gva.es.
authors.forename: Vicent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yusà
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010755:Organophosphates / Q000652:urine*; D010575:Pesticides / Q000652:urine*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011722:Pyrethrins / Q000652:urine*; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D010755:Organophosphates; D010575:Pesticides; D011722:Pyrethrins
keywords: Children; Exposure; Metabolites; Pesticides; Urine