An Evaluation of Metrics for Assessing Maternal Exposure to Agricultural Pesticides

Citation

Warren, Joshua L.; Luben, Thomas J.; Sanders, Alison P.; Brownstein, Naomi C.; Herring, Amy H.; & Meyer, Robert E. (2014). An Evaluation of Metrics for Assessing Maternal Exposure to Agricultural Pesticides. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, 24(5), 497-503. PMCID: PMC3997755

Abstract

We evaluate the use of three different exposure metrics to estimate maternal agricultural pesticide exposure during pregnancy. Using a geographic information system-based method of pesticide exposure estimation, we combine data on crop density and specific pesticide application amounts/dates to create the three exposure metrics. For illustration purposes, we create each metric for a North Carolina cohort of pregnant women, 2003-2005, and analyze the risk of congenital anomaly development with a focus on metric comparisons. Based on the results, and the need to balance data collection efforts/computational efficiency with accuracy, the metric which estimates total chemical exposure using application dates based on crop-specific earliest planting and latest harvesting information is preferred. Benefits and drawbacks of each metric are discussed and recommendations for extending the analysis to other states are provided.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/jes.2013.75

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2014

Journal Title

Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology

Author(s)

Warren, Joshua L.
Luben, Thomas J.
Sanders, Alison P.
Brownstein, Naomi C.
Herring, Amy H.
Meyer, Robert E.

PMCID

PMC3997755