We read with interest the analysis by Shelton et al. (2014) of the relationships between maternal proximity to insecticide applica­ tion and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and developmental delay (DD) in children. Although we commend the investigators’ efforts to identify, recruit, and enroll parents of children with ASDs or DD, absent is any confirmation of exposures or that the active ingre...

This study surveyed the exposure to pesticides among farmers in Chiang Mai’s highland agricultural area. Ethnic Hmong farmers, living in Baan Buak Jan, Mae Rim District, Chiang Mai Province were selected as the study population. Pesticide-specific urinary metabolites were used as biomarkers of exposure to a variety of pesticides, including organophosphorus pesticides, synthetic pyrethroids and ...

The literature of pesticide residue analysis is reviewed selectively for the period 1999-2000. Analyses of a wide range of pesticide classes and sample types, as well as some related organic pollutants, are covered. Studies of exposure and monitoring as well as pesticide degradation, persistance, leaching, mobility, and metabolism studies are included.

We previously reported reduced sperm concentration and motility in fertile men in a U.S. agrarian area (Columbia, MO) relative to men from U.S. urban centers (Minneapolis, MN; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY). In the present study we address the hypothesis that pesticides currently used in agriculture in the Midwest contributed to these differences in semen quality. We selected men in whom all se...

Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is a pesticide that causes tens of thousands of deaths per year worldwide. Chlorpyrifos oxon (CPO) is the active metabolite of CPF that inhibits acetylcholinesterase. However, this presumed metabolite has escaped detection in human samples by conventional methods (HPLC, GC-MS, LC-MS) until now. A recently developed enzyme-based assay allowed the determination of CPO in the na...

We measured two diethyl organophosphorus (OP) pesticides--chlorpyrifos and parathion--in residences, and their metabolic by-products, in the urine of children 6 years old or younger in a central Washington State agricultural community. Exposures to two dimethyl OP pesticides (azinphos-methyl and phosmet) in this same population have been reported previously. We categorized children by parental ...

Organophosphorous pesticides (OPs) are suspected of altering reproductive function by reducing brain acetylcholinesterase activity and monoamine levels, thus impairing hypothalamic and/or pituitary endocrine functions and gonadal processes. Our objective was to evaluate in a longitudinal study the association between OP exposure and serum levels of pituitary and sex hormones. Urinary OP metabol...