Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Based on “personal dust cloud” phenomenon reported for office buildings,
which indicate personal dust exposures 3 to 5 times greater than area
samples, it would be desirable to measure breathing zone levels using
personal monitors to assess levels of airborne pesticides to which children
are actually exposed.
Significant exposures of children to pesticides have been reported in
studies by the Centers for Disease Control in Arkansas and agricultural areas
of Washington. In the former case, measurable urinary levels of PCP and a
metabolite of
p
-dichlorobenzene were observed in nearly 100% of the 200
children evaluated. The source and nature of these exposures were unknown.
In Washington agricultural areas, 47% of the children of applicators were
found to have detectable levels of an organophosphate insecticide in their
urine, with children age 3 to 4 years having significantly higher exposures
than their older siblings.
7. Health effects
There are apparently no published studies that document airborne levels or
potential adverse health effects associated with the use of antimicrobial
compounds. However, there have been numerous cases of inadvertent inges-
tion poisoning of children (reported by Poison Control Centers).
Health concerns associated with indoor pesticide exposure include:
acute symptoms due to high-level exposures which occur immediately after
application; long-term risk of cancer from chronic exposures to substances
such as chlordane, heptachlor, and PCP; and immunologic effects.
a. Acute symptoms.
Mercury is a very toxic substance, and exposures
associated with use of mercury biocides in latex paint have been a public
health concern. Inhalation of high concentrations of mercury vapor has been
reported to cause pain and chest tightness, difficult breathing, coughing,
nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and headaches. Chronic expo-
sure to low concentrations of mercury has been associated with vasomotor
disturbances, muscle tremors, and personality changes.
Though the use of mercury biocides in latex paints was voluntarily dis-
continued in the U.S. in 1990, it had previously been widely used to paint
interior walls of homes. Potentially significant mercury exposures of new
home occupants likely occurred, since 25 to 30% of interior latex paints
contained mercury; a high percentage of paints used PMA, apparently the
most mercury-labile biocide used in paint. The health effects of such expo-
sures are unknown and unknowable. A single case report suggests that clin-
ical cases of mercury poisoning in children likely occurred and that numerous
children and other individuals may have experienced subclinical symptoms.
Acute health effects have been reported for misapplication uses of home
foggers, termiticides, wood preservatives, and other pesticide treatments.
Major occupant health complaints have been associated with home fogging
devices. They include headache, nausea, dizziness, and eye and skin irrita-
tion. It has been estimated that acute symptoms apparently due to the mis-
