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Cross-sectional biomonitoring study of pesticide exposures in Queensland, Australia, using pooled urine samples

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Abstract

A range of pesticides are available in Australia for use in agricultural and domestic settings to control pests, including organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides, herbicides, and insect repellents, such as N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET). The aim of this study was to provide a cost-effective preliminary assessment of background exposure to a range of pesticides among a convenience sample of Australian residents. De-identified urine specimens stratified by age and sex were obtained from a community-based pathology laboratory and pooled (n = 24 pools of 100 specimens). Concentrations of urinary pesticide biomarkers were quantified using solid-phase extraction coupled with isotope dilution high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Geometric mean biomarker concentrations ranged from <0.1 to 36.8 ng/mL for organophosphate insecticides, <0.1 to 5.5 ng/mL for pyrethroid insecticides, and <0.1 to 8.51 ng/mL for all other biomarkers with the exception of the DEET metabolite 3-diethylcarbamoyl benzoic acid (4.23 to 850 ng/mL). We observed no association between age and concentration for most biomarkers measured but noted a “U-shaped” trend for five organophosphate metabolites, with the highest concentrations observed in the youngest and oldest age strata, perhaps related to age-specific differences in behavior or physiology. The fact that concentrations of specific and non-specific metabolites of the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos were higher than reported in USA and Canada may relate to differences in registered applications among countries. Additional biomonitoring programs of the general population and focusing on vulnerable populations would improve the exposure assessment and the monitoring of temporal exposure trends as usage patterns of pesticide products in Australia change over time.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the staff at Entox and Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology Taringa for their assistance with the sample collection and pooling. We also gratefully acknowledge Sam Baker, Mark Davis, Angela Montesano, and other CDC staff for their technical assistance in measuring the urinary concentrations of the pesticide biomarkers. ALH is funded by an NHMRC-ARC Fellowship (APP1106911), KE by an Australian Government Postgraduate Award, LMT by an ARC DECRA (DE120100161), PDS is an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow (no. 1102590), and JFM is an ARC Future Fellow (FF120100546). The authors would like to thank the Australian Government Department of the Environment for their financial support. The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health acknowledges the strong support from the Victorian Government and in particular the funding from the Operational Infrastructure Support Grant. Entox is a joint venture of the University of Queensland and the Queensland Department of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, The University of Queensland, 39 Kessels Rd, Coopers Plains, QLD, 4108, Australia

    AL Heffernan & JF Mueller

  2. The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    AL Heffernan

  3. School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    K English

  4. Children’s Health and Environment Program, Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    K English, RS Ware, P Jagals & PD Sly

  5. School of Public Health and Social Work and Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    LML Toms

  6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

    AM Calafat & L Valentin-Blasini

  7. Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology Taringa, Taringa, QLD, Australia

    P Hobson

  8. Australian Government Department of the Environment, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    S Broomhall

  9. School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    RS Ware & P Jagals

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  1. AL Heffernan
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  2. K English
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Correspondence to AL Heffernan.

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Heffernan, A., English, K., Toms, L. et al. Cross-sectional biomonitoring study of pesticide exposures in Queensland, Australia, using pooled urine samples. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 23436–23448 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7571-7

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