Take-Home Route of Pesticide Exposure

Abstract

This article provides a review of the literature on the take-home pathway of pesticide exposure by examining studies that have analyzed dust or urine samples to assess in-home contamination of pesticides. Studies that assesed levels at pesticides in house or vehicle dust in agricultural and non-agricultural workers consistently provided support for the take-home pathway. The strongest evidence for this pathway however appears to be the findings reported in 9 of 10 published articles that urinary metabolite concentrations of pesticides are higher among children of agriculturalworkers as compared to children of nonagricultural workers. Pesticides are being tracked into the home environment, where children can be exposed. Further research is needed to assess the importance of this and other pathways to guide interventions to mitigate exposures among children.