A Pilot Study Evaluating Organochlorine and Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure in Children and Adolescents of Mexican Descent Residing in Hidalgo County, Texas

• Published in: Journal of immigrant and minority health Vol. 21; no. 4; pp. 751 - 760
• Main Authors: Hernandez, Mike, Hernández-Valero, María A., García-Prieto, Celia, Patterson, Donald G., Hajek, Richard A., Recinos, Iris, Lopez, David S., Li, Yisheng, Jones, Lovell A., Hawk, Ernest
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer Science + Business Media 01-08-2019; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Child; Child and Adolescent Health; Child, Preschool; Children; Comparative Law; Creatinine; Credibility; DDT; Descent; Disease control; Disease prevention; Environmental Exposure; Exposure; Female; Health risk assessment; Hexachlorocyclohexane; Humans; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated - metabolism; International & Foreign Law; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolites; Mexican Americans; Organic chemistry; Organic compounds; Organochlorine pesticides; Organophosphates; Organophosphates - metabolism; Organophosphorus pesticides; Original Paper; Pesticides; Pesticides - metabolism; Pilot Projects; Private International Law; Public Health; Serum; Sociology; Teenagers; Texas - epidemiology; Texas; Organochlorines; Children and adolescents of Mexican descent; Pesticides; Organophosphates
• ISSN: 1557-1912; 1557-1920
• DOI: 10.1007/s10903-018-0791-9

Children and adolescents of Mexican descent residing in Hidalgo County (TX) were evaluated for exposure to organochlorine (OC) and organophosphate (OP) pesticides. A convenience sample of 60 participants enrolled in our pilot study. The lipid-adjusted serum concentrations of nine OC metabolites and creatinine-adjusted urinary concentrations of six OP metabolites were measured and compared with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Fourth Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the concentration levels for each metabolite. Study participants were aged 5–18 years. For most of the OC and OP metabolites, our findings showed that participants had concentration levels within the distributional range of the national data. However, notable outlying levels (greater than the 95th percentile in the Fourth Report) were identified for the following OC metabolites: gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane, p,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethene, and p,p′-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. Among the children aged 5–11 years, one child had an outlying value for the OP metabolite: dimethylphosphate. Our findings on the levels of OC and OP pesticide exposure enhances the credibility of national estimates, and can serve as baselines for children and adolescents of Mexican descent residing in Lower Rio Grande Valley. Furthermore, our study contributes to the lacunae of knowledge regarding environmental exposures and presses further investigation of outlying OC and OP exposure levels.