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  • Original Article
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Using GIS and historical records to reconstruct residential exposure to large-scale pesticide application

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 12, pages 64–80 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Investigation of pesticide impacts on human health depends on good measures of exposure. Historical exposure data are needed to study health outcomes, such as cancer, that involve long latency periods, and other outcomes that are a function of the timing of exposure. Environmental or biological samples collected at the time of epidemiologic study may not represent historical exposure levels. To study the relationship between residential exposure to pesticides and breast cancer on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, historical records of pesticide use were integrated into a geographic information system (GIS) to estimate exposures from large-scale pesticide applications between 1948 and 1995. Information on pesticide use for gypsy moth and other tree/vegetative pest control, cranberry bog cultivation, other agriculture, mosquito control, recreational turf management, and rights-of-way maintenance is included in the database. Residents living within or near pesticide use areas may be exposed through inhalation due to drift and volatilization and through dermal contact and ingestion at the time of application or in later years from pesticides that deposit on soil, accumulate in crops, or migrate to groundwater. Procedures were developed to use the GIS to estimate the relative intensity of past exposures at each study subject's Cape Cod addresses over the past 40 years, taking into account local meteorological data, distance and direction from a residence to a pesticide use source area, size of the source area, application by ground-based or aerial methods, and persistent or nonpersistent character of the pesticide applied. The resulting individual-level estimates of relative exposure intensity can be used in conjunction with interview data to obtain more complete exposure assessment in an epidemiologic study. While the database can improve environmental epidemiological studies involving pesticides, it simultaneously illustrates important data gaps that cannot be filled. Studies such as this one have the potential to identify preventable causes of disease and guide public policies.

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Abbreviations

GIS:

geographic information systems

CCMCP:

Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project

MA-DEM:

Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management

USGS:

United States Geological Survey

ISCST3:

Industrial Source Complex Short-Term air model

APHIS:

US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

USDA:

US Department of Agriculture

US EPA:

US Environmental Protection Agency

MA DFA:

Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture

MA DNR:

Massachusetts Department of Natural Resources

ORETF:

Outdoor Residential Exposure Task Force

NCFAP:

National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by an appropriation of the Massachusetts legislature administered by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Additional support for preparation of this manuscript was provided by a grant from the Boston Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. We thank Joan Gardner and staff of Applied Geographics for technical assistance in development of the Cape Cod Study GIS. We gratefully acknowledge the help and dedication of many Cape Cod residents, including Ruth Jacobs and the members of the Public Advisory Committee. We thank many other individuals who provided information during interviews, with special thanks to Charlie Burnham, MA-DEM Bureau of Shade Tree Management; Dick Kelliher, retired MA-DEM Supervisor for Cape Cod; and Win H. McLane, Section Leader, Insecticide and Application Technology Section, USDA. We also acknowledge the contributions of Cheryl Osimo (Cape Cod outreach coordinator for the study), research assistants Jennifer Roberts Kachajian and Christina Spaulding, Michael McClean for assistance with golf course superintendent interviews, and Christopher Swartz for assistance in revisions. We thank Jay Nuckols for contributions to meetings of the study Science Advisory Committee. We also thank Betsey Noth for her thoughtful review and Maura Nelson and Caitlin Willoughby for editorial assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Silent Spring Institute, Newton, Massachusetts, USA

    JULIA GREEN BRODY, STEVEN J MELLY, SUSAN R SWEDIS & RUTHANN A RUDEL

  2. Menzie-Cura and Associates, Inc., Chelmsford, Massachusetts, USA

    DONNA J VORHEES

  3. Consultant, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA

    PETER J DRIVAS

Authors
  1. JULIA GREEN BRODY
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  2. DONNA J VORHEES
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  3. STEVEN J MELLY
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  4. SUSAN R SWEDIS
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  5. PETER J DRIVAS
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  6. RUTHANN A RUDEL
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Correspondence to JULIA GREEN BRODY.

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BRODY, J., VORHEES, D., MELLY, S. et al. Using GIS and historical records to reconstruct residential exposure to large-scale pesticide application. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 12, 64–80 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500205

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