Department of Environmental Health & Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2022 May;32(3):481-492. doi: 10.1038/s41370-021-00339-z. Epub 2021 Jun 2.
Soil ingestion is a critical, yet poorly characterized route of exposure to contaminants, particularly for agricultural workers who have frequent, direct contact with soil.
This qualitative investigation aims to identify and characterize key considerations for translating agricultural workers' soil ingestion experiences into recommendations to improve traditional exposure science tools for estimating soil ingestion.
We conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with 16 fruit and vegetable growers in Maryland to characterize their behaviors and concerns regarding soil contact in order to characterize the nature of soil ingestion in the agricultural context.
We identified and discussed four emergent themes: (1) variability in growers' descriptions of soil and dust, (2) variability in growers' soil contact, (3) growers' concerns regarding soil contact, (4) growers' practices to modify soil contact. We also identified environmental and behavioral factors and six specific agricultural tasks that may impact soil ingestion rates.
Our investigation fills an important gap in occupational exposure science methodology by providing four key considerations that should be integrated into indirect measurement tools for estimating soil ingestion rates in the agricultural context. Specifically, a task-based framework may provide a structure for future investigations of soil contact that may be useful in other populations.
土壤摄入是接触污染物的一种重要但研究不足的途径，特别是对于经常直接接触土壤的农业工人来说。
本定性研究旨在确定和描述将农业工人土壤摄入经验转化为改进传统暴露科学工具以估计土壤摄入的建议的关键考虑因素。
我们对马里兰州的 16 名水果和蔬菜种植者进行了深入的定性访谈，以描述他们对土壤接触的行为和关注，以便在农业背景下描述土壤摄入的性质。
我们确定并讨论了四个新出现的主题：（1）种植者对土壤和灰尘的描述的可变性，（2）种植者土壤接触的可变性，（3）种植者对土壤接触的关注，（4）种植者改变土壤接触的做法。我们还确定了环境和行为因素以及可能影响土壤摄入率的六个特定农业任务。
我们的调查通过提供应纳入农业背景下估计土壤摄入率的间接测量工具的四个关键考虑因素，填补了职业暴露科学方法学中的一个重要空白。具体来说，基于任务的框架可能为未来研究土壤接触提供一个结构，这在其他人群中可能是有用的。
