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BackgroundExposure to agricultural pesticides, specifically organophosphates (OP) has been linked to adverse respiratory outcomes in agricultural settings. However, these studies have been based on childhood outcomes, with limited information in relation to respiratory endpoints in adults. Urinary leukotriene E4 (uLTE4) is a cysteinyl leukotriene indicative of respiratory inflammation, and is associated with several respiratory diseases, including asthma. Levels of uLTE4 are known to increase during severe asthma attacks. Though OP pesticides are an inhalation hazard, there is little known about their effect on respiratory inflammation in a population without asthma. We evaluated the relation between OP pesticides found in household dust and urinary LTE4 in a cohort of adults residentially exposed to agricultural pesticides.
Methods Dust and urine samples were collected during the agricultural spraying (June) and non-spraying seasons (January) from 28 households located within 200 feet of agricultural fields in the Central Valley of California. We implemented linear regression models to test the association between uLTE4 and OP concentrations, as well as t-tests comparing mean uLTE4 concentrations by occupational status (agricultural v. non-agricultural).
ResultsA total of 103 urine samples were analyzed for LTE4 and 50 dust samples for OPs. We did not see an association between OP dust concentration (97.4 ppb, sd = 147.0 ppb) and uLTE4 level, nor was there a difference by season. We did observe a difference in mean uLTE4 level by occupational status (non-agriculture = 1067 pg/ml, agriculture = 1345 pg/ml) but it was not statistically significant (p-value = 0.12).
ConclusionOrganophosphates found in house dust were not associated with markers of respiratory inflammation. However, respiratory inflammation may be increased in community members with occupational exposures to pesticides.