Health risk assessment of dermal exposure to Chlorpyrifos among children in agricultural areas in Sakon Nakhon Province, Thailand

Abstract

Chlorpyrifos is a widely used agricultural insecticide. Chlorpyrifos exposure affects brain development and children’s overall health. The objective of this study was to assess the health risks from skin exposure to chlorpyrifos and to investigate the factors associated with chlorpyrifos exposure among children in agricultural areas. Residual chlorpyrifos samples were collected from the hands and feet of 130 children (aged 1–3) to analyze chlorpyrifos content using high-pressure liquid chromatography with a diode array detector. Chlorpyrifos residues were detected on the skin of 73.1% of the children tested. The health risk assessment of non-cancerous effects showed that children had dermal chlorpyrifos exposure at 1.46 × 10⁻⁵mg/kg-day, and the hazard quotient (HQ) of child dermal chlorpyrifos exposure was 0.03, which is an acceptable level. The frequency of accompanying parents to pesticide-sprayed areas was significantly associated with dermal chlorpyrifos exposure levels in children (OR_adjust =1.44, 95%CI =1.02–2.03). However, children in agricultural areas may be subject to additional health risks from exposure to other pesticides through respiration and ingestion. Therefore, they should not be allowed to accompany their parents to agricultural areas, and a program to prevent pesticides from affecting children in these areas should be developed.

Keywords:

• Chlorpyrifos
• agricultural area
• risk assessment
• children

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the farmers who participated in this study. We are thankful for the help of the family caregivers of the young children, public health care staff, and officers in the study areas in Sakon Nakhon Province, Thailand.

Additional information

Funding

This research is supported by the Health Systems Research Institute (HSRI), Thailand [HSRI 62-105], through a grant from the Faculty of Public Health, Kasetsart University, Chalermphrakiat Sakon Nakhon Province campus, Thailand, and partially, through the Ratchadapisek Somphot Fund for Postdoctoral Fellowship, Chulalongkorn University, Grant for International Research Integration:Chula Research Scholar, Ratchadaphiseksomphot Endowment Fund [GCURS 59-06-79-01]. Support also came from the NIH-NIEHS P30 ES005022 and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at Rutgers.