Relationships of residential distance to Greenhouse Floriculture and Organophosphate, Pyrethroid, and Neonicotinoid Urinary Metabolite Concentration in Ecuadorian Adolescents

Background Adolescents living in agricultural areas are at higher risk of secondary pesticide exposure; however, there is limited evidence to confirm exposure by pesticide drift for greenhouse floriculture, like rose production.

525 adolescents (12-17, 49% male) living in Pedro Moncayo, Ecuador were assessed in 2016. Urinary concentrations of creatinine and pesticide biomarkers (organophosphates, neonicotinoids, and pyrethroids) were measured using mass-spectrometry. Home distance to the nearest greenhouse and surface area of greenhouses within various buffer sizes around the home were calculated. Linear regression assessed whether home distance and surface area of greenhouses was associated with creatinine-adjusted metabolite concentration, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and anthropometric variables. Geospatially weighted regression (GWR) was conducted, adjusting for similar covariates. Getis-ord Gi* identified hot and cold spots using a 1994m distance band.

The associations between residential distance to greenhouses and urinary pesticide metabolites differed by metabolite type. The adjusted mean concentrations of OHIM (neonicotinoid) were greater (p-difference=0.02) among participants living within 200m (1.08 ug/g of creatinine) vs >200m (0.64 ug/g); however, the opposite was observed for 3,5,6-Trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy, organophosphate; 0-200m: 3.63 ug/g vs >200m: 4.30 ug/g, p-diff= 0.05). In linear models, greater distances were negatively associated with para-nitrophenol (PNP, organophosphate; percent difference per 50% greater distance [95% CI]: -2.5% [-4.9%, -0.1%]) and somewhat with 2-isopropyl-4-methyl-6-hydroxypyrimidine (IMPy, organophosphate; -4.0% [-8.3%, 0.4%]), among participants living within 200m of greenhouses. Concurring with the adjusted means analyses, opposite (positive) associations were observed for TCPy (2.1% [95%CI: 0.3%, 3.9%]). Organophosphate and pyrethroid hotspots were found in parishes with greater greenhouse density, whereas neonicotinoid hot spots were in parishes with the lowest greenhouse density.

We observed negative associations between residential distance to greenhouses with OHIM, PNP and to some extent IMPy, suggesting that imidacloprid, parathion and diazinon is drifting from floricultural greenhouses and reaching children living within 200m. Positive TCPy associations suggest greenhouses weren’t the chlorpyrifos source during this study period, which implies that non-floricultural open-air agriculture (e.g. corn, potatoes, strawberries, grains) may be a source. Further research incorporating diverse geospatial constructs of pesticide sources, pesticide use reports (if available), participant location tracking, and repeated metabolite measurements is recommended. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funding Statement The ESPINA study received funding from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (1R36OH009402) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R01ES025792, R01ES030378, R21ES026084, U2CES026560, P30ES019776). Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: This study was approved by the institutional review boards at the University of California San Diego, Universidad San Francisco de Quito and the Ministry of Public Health of Ecuador. Informed consent from parents was obtained for participation in this study and parental permission of participation for each of their selected children was obtained. Child assent was obtained for all children. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Data Availability All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors