Chlorpyrifos - Exposure

Exposure

A body burden study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found TCPy, a metabolite specific to chlorpyrifos, in the urine of 91% of people tested. An independent analysis of the CDC data claims that Dow has contributed 80% of the chlorpyrifos body burden of people living in the US. A 2008 study found dramatic drops in the urinary levels of chlorpyrifos metabolites when children switched from conventional to organic diets.

Air monitoring studies conducted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have documented chlorpyrifos in the air of California communities. Analyses of the CARB data indicate that children living in areas of high chlorpyrifos use are often exposed to levels of the insecticide that exceed levels considered acceptable by the EPA. Recent air monitoring studies in Washington and Lindsay, CA have yielded comparable results. Grower and pesticide industry groups have argued that the air levels documented in these studies are not high enough to cause significant exposure or adverse effects, but a follow-up biomonitoring study in Lindsay, CA has shown that people there have higher than normal chlorpyrifos levels in their bodies.

A study of the effects of chlorpyrifos on humans exposed over time showed that people exposed to high levels have autoimmune antibodies that are common in people with autoimmune disorders. There is a strong correlation to chronic illness associated with autoimmune disorders after exposure to chlorpyrifos.

Before it was banned from residential use in the US, chlorpyrifos was detected in 100% of personal indoor air samples and 70% of umbilical-cord blood collected from pregnant women 18–35 years old who self-identified as African American or Dominican and living in New York City public housing.