Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Environ Int. 2022 Dec;170:107524. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107524. Epub 2022 Sep 16.
The burden of disease associated with environmental exposures disproportionately impacts residents of low- and middle-income countries. Children living in rural regions of these countries may experience higher exposure to insecticides from indoor residual spraying used for malaria control and household air pollution. This study evaluated environmental exposures of children living in a rural region of South Africa. Quantifying exposure levels and identifying characteristics that are associated with exposure in this geographic region has been challenging due to limitations with available monitoring techniques. Wearable passive samplers have recently been shown to be a convenient and reliable tool for assessing personal exposures. In this study, a passive sampler wristband, known as Fresh Air wristband, was worn by 49 children (five-years of age) residing in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The study leveraged ongoing research within the Venda Health Examination of Mothers, Babies, and their Environment (VHEMBE) birth cohort. A wide range of chemicals (35 in total) were detected using the wristbands, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organochlorine pesticides, phthalates, and organophosphate esters (OPEs) flame retardants. Higher concentrations of PAHs were observed among children from households that fell below the food poverty threshold, did not have access to electric cookstoves/burners, or reported longer times of cooking or burning materials during the sampling period. Concentrations of p,p'-DDD and p,p'-DDT were also found to be elevated for children from households falling below the food poverty threshold as well as for children whose households were sprayed for malaria control within the previous 1.5 years. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using passive sampler wristbands as a non-invasive method for personal exposure assessment of children in rural regions of South Africa to complex mixtures environmental contaminants derived from a combination of sources. Future studies are needed to further identify and understand the effects of airborne environmental contaminants on childhood development and strategies to mitigate exposures.
与环境暴露相关的疾病负担不成比例地影响了中低收入国家的居民。生活在这些国家农村地区的儿童可能会因用于疟疾控制的室内残留喷洒和家庭空气污染而接触更高水平的杀虫剂。本研究评估了南非农村地区儿童的环境暴露情况。由于可用监测技术的限制，量化该地理区域的暴露水平并确定与暴露相关的特征一直具有挑战性。可穿戴式被动采样器最近已被证明是评估个人暴露的一种便捷可靠的工具。在这项研究中，一种名为“新鲜空气腕带”的被动采样腕带被佩戴在居住在南非林波波省的 49 名儿童（五岁）身上。该研究利用了文达母婴及其环境健康检查（VHEMBE）出生队列正在进行的研究。使用腕带共检测到 35 种化学物质，包括多环芳烃（PAHs）、有机氯农药、邻苯二甲酸酯和有机磷酸酯（OPEs）阻燃剂。来自食物贫困线以下家庭、没有电炊具/燃烧器或在采样期间报告烹饪或燃烧材料时间较长的儿童，其体内的 PAHs 浓度较高。来自食物贫困线以下家庭的儿童和在前 1.5 年内家庭接受疟疾控制喷洒的儿童体内的 p,p'-DDD 和 p,p'-DDT 浓度也较高。本研究证明了使用被动采样腕带作为一种非侵入性方法，来评估南非农村地区儿童对复杂混合物环境污染物的个人暴露情况是可行的，这些污染物源自多种来源。需要进一步研究以确定和了解空气传播环境污染物对儿童发育的影响，并制定减轻暴露的策略。
