Collecting urine samples from young children using cotton gauze for pesticide studies.

To estimate pesticide exposure, urine samples are often needed to analyze pesticide metabolites. However, this is difficult for children wearing diapers because simple and feasible techniques suitable for field collection are not available. The objectives of this study were to test the validity of using cotton gauze pad as a medium for collecting urine samples from young children and to examine the stability of the recoveries for creatinine and pesticide metabolites over 24 h. Urine spiked with a pesticide and four metabolites, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (which is mainly eliminated from urine unchanged), 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (metabolite for synthetic pyrethroids), atrazine mercapturate (metabolite for atrazine), malathion dicarboxylic acid (metabolite for malathion), and 2-isopropyl-4-methyl-6-hydroxypyrimidine (metabolite for diazinon) was added to the gauze pads and kept in jars at 37 degrees C in a water bath. Urine was expressed from the gauze pads immediately and after 1, 2, 4, 8, and 24 h, then analyzed. The recoveries, calculated as the percentage of concentration in expressed urine divided by that of the control urine sample, were within a range of 70-130%. The metabolite and creatinine concentrations did not change with time in either expressed urine samples or controls. The results suggest that cotton gauze pad is a promising candidate for collecting urine samples from young children wearing diapers for studies in which these five urinary pesticide metabolites are to be analyzed.

Testing duplicate diet sample collection methods for measuring personal dietary exposures to chemical contaminants.

Dietary ingestion may be a significant pathway of human exposure to many potentially toxic chemicals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-National Human Exposure Laboratory has made the development of methods for measuring personal dietary exposures a high priority for its dietary exposure research program. Of particular interest was the testing of methods that could be applied in the general population as one component of multipathway exposure measurement studies. This paper describes a controlled pilot study that was conducted to evaluate procedures for collecting and processing duplicate diet samples. Nine adult and three child participants volunteered to provide dietary information for 28 days, and duplicate portions of all foods consumed daily for seven consecutive days. Sample collection procedures were evaluated for participant collection and segregation of solid and liquid foods, and for identification and separation of high-fat and low-fat foods. Methods for compositing and homogenizing mixed diet samples were tested. Food records and questionnaires were tested to document the collected food and to evaluate procedures for assessing dietary changes and collection bias. Participant time and monetary needs were evaluated along with the approach for training and providing support to study participants. Participants were able to collect 96% of the meals they consumed, even with 33% of the meals consumed away from home. Food consumed in social settings was the most difficult to collect, and participants were unable or unwilling to collect foods in some social settings. Noncollection of meals and food items increased after the third day of collection. Mixed diet samples were successfully homogenized, with 1%-11% mean relative standard deviations for moisture, fat, protein, and ash analysis in replicate sample aliquots. The laboratory-measured caloric content of collected foods was an average of 12% (range: -24% to 36%) lower than estimates of energy intake using a food diary and 16% lower than estimated energy expenditure values.

Method for measuring base/neutral and carbamate pesticides in personal dietary samples.

Dietary uptake may be a significant pathway of exposure to contaminants. As such, dietary exposure assessments should be considered an important part of the total exposure assessment process. The objective of this work was to develop reliable methods that are applicable to a wide range of base/neutral and carbamate-type pesticides in duplicate diet samples collected as part of dietary exposure assessment studies. The resulting method needed to be sensitive to concentrations below 1 ng/g, accurate and precise, and as simple and cost effective as possible. As a first step, information was gathered on current methods for measuring pesticides in foods. Although the literature methods could serve as a starting point, few had been applied to duplicate diet samples and detection limits were generally high (10 to 100 ng/g). Experimental work was performed to evaluate individual extraction, cleanup, and analysis procedures; link the most promising procedures into analysis methods; and generate performance data on the final method. The final method used Soxhlet extraction with solvent partitioning and gel permeation chromatography cleanup. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was used for the analysis of base/neutral pesticides. High performance liquid chromatography analysis was used for the analysis of carbamate pesticides. Results of performance testing showed good accuracy (recovery > 70%), precision (% RSD < 25%), and sensitivity (method detection limits < 1.0 ng/g) for most pesticides targeted for study.