Pesticide exposure, birth size, and gestational age in the ISA birth cohort, Costa Rica.

Purpose: To examine associations of prenatal biomarkers of pesticide exposure with birth size measures and length of gestation among newborns from the Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) birth cohort, Costa Rica.

Methods: We included 386 singleton liveborn newborns with data on birth size measures, length of gestation, and maternal urinary biomarkers of chlorpyrifos, synthetic pyrethroids, mancozeb, pyrimethanil, and 2, 4-D during pregnancy. We associated biomarkers of exposure with birth outcomes using multivariate linear regression and generalized additive models.

A cross-sectional analysis of medical conditions and environmental factors associated with fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in women and children from the ISA birth cohort, Costa Rica.

Background: Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a marker of airway inflammation. Elevated FeNO has been associated with environmental exposures, however, studies from tropical countries are limited. Using data from the Infants' Environmental Health Study (ISA) birth cohort, we evaluated medical conditions and environmental exposures' association with elevated FeNO.

Interventions to Reduce Pesticide Exposure from the Agricultural Sector in Africa: A Workshop Report.

Despite the fact that several cases of unsafe pesticide use among farmers in different parts of Africa have been documented, there is limited evidence regarding which specific interventions are effective in reducing pesticide exposure and associated risks to human health and ecology. The overall goal of the African Pesticide Intervention Project (APsent) study is to better understand ongoing research and public health activities related to interventions in Africa through the implementation of suitable target-specific situations or use contexts. A systematic review of the scientific literature on pesticide intervention studies with a focus on Africa was conducted.

[Playful Learning: a tool for Environmental Education].

Introduction: Playful learning for environmental education represents a participatory pedagogical mediation that considers the socio-environmental realities in which persons are immersed.

Objective: To promote environmental education, through playful, participatory, and flexible methods, to prevent pesticide exposure.

Methodology: Using geographic information systems, the distances between schools and bananas plantations were calculated.

Pyrimethanil and chlorpyrifos air concentrations and pregnant women's urinary metabolites in the Infants' Environmental Health Study (ISA), Costa Rica.

Background: Only few studies have compared environmental pesticide air concentrations with specific urinary metabolites to evaluate pathways of exposure. Therefore, we compared pyrimethanil and chlorpyrifos concentrations in air with urinary 4-hydroxypyrimethanil (OHP, metabolite of pyrimethanil) and 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy, metabolite of chlorpyrifos) among pregnant women from the Infant's Environmental Health Study (ISA) in Matina County, Costa Rica.

Methods: During pregnancy, we obtained repeat urinary samples from 448 women enrolled in the ISA study.

Kidney Function in Rice Workers Exposed to Heat and Dehydration in Costa Rica.

The aim of this study was to evaluate heat exposure, dehydration, and kidney function in rice workers over the course of three months, in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. We collected biological and questionnaire data across a three-month-period in male field (n = 27) and other (n = 45) workers from a rice company where chronic kidney disease of unknown origin (CKDu) is endemic. We used stepwise forward regression to determine variables associated with estimated glomerular filtration rate eGFR at enrollment and/or change in eGFR, and Poisson regression to assess associations with incident kidney injury (IKI) over the course of three months.

Prenatal and postnatal exposure to pesticides and school-age children's cognitive ability in rural Bogotá, Colombia.

Colombia is one of the largest pesticide consumers in South America. These products have a variety of negative consequences on the health of rural populations, especially neurocognitive disorders in children. In this work, the prenatal and postnatal exposure to pesticides was evaluated and the association between the cognitive capacity of school-age children in rural areas of the city of Bogotá, Colombia, investigated.

Respiratory and allergic outcomes among 5-year-old children exposed to pesticides.

Background: Little is known about the effects of pesticides on children's respiratory and allergic outcomes. We evaluated associations of prenatal and current pesticide exposures with respiratory and allergic outcomes in children from the Infants' Environmental Health Study in Costa Rica.

Methods: Among 5-year-old children (n=303), we measured prenatal and current specific gravity-corrected urinary metabolite concentrations of insecticides (chlorpyrifos, pyrethroids), fungicides (mancozeb, pyrimethanil, thiabendazole) and 2,4-D.

Environmental exposures contribute to respiratory and allergic symptoms among women living in the banana growing regions of Costa Rica.

Objectives: This research evaluates whether environmental exposures (pesticides and smoke) influence respiratory and allergic outcomes in women living in a tropical, agricultural environment.

Methods: We used data from 266 mothers from the Infants' Environmental Health cohort study in Costa Rica. We evaluated environmental exposures in women by measuring seven pesticide and two polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons metabolites in urine samples.

Exposure to common-use pesticides, manganese, lead, and thyroid function among pregnant women from the Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) study, Costa Rica.

Background: Pesticides and metals may disrupt thyroid function, which is key to fetal brain development.

Objectives: To evaluate if current-use pesticide exposures, lead and excess manganese alter free thyroxine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations in pregnant women from the Infants' Environmental Health Study (ISA).

Methods: At enrollment, we determined women's (n = 400) specific-gravity corrected urinary pesticide (μg/L) metabolite concentrations of mancozeb (ethylene thiourea (ETU)), pyrimethanil, thiabendazole, chlorpyrifos, synthetic pyrethroids, and 2,4-D.

Pesticide risk perceptions among bystanders of aerial spraying on bananas in Costa Rica.

Little is known about how bystanders perceive risks from pesticide use in areas with frequent aerial spraying of pesticides. This research aims to better understand how bystanders (school workers) from three counties of the Limón province in Costa Rica, who did not have a contractual relationship with agricultural production, perceive risks of pesticides in the areas where they work and live. A face-to-face survey was carried out among 475 school workers, of whom 455 completed all 33 questions on pesticide risk perception.

Passive monitoring techniques to evaluate environmental pesticide exposure: Results from the Infant's Environmental Health study (ISA).

Background: Pesticides used in agriculture may expose populations living nearby. Costa Rica is a major banana-exporting country, its production depends on extensive pesticide use.

Objectives: To evaluate environmental pesticide exposure, we measured levels of current-use pesticides in air and dust from 12 schools in Matina County, Costa Rica, with passive sampling methods.

Prenatal pesticide exposure and respiratory health outcomes in the first year of life: Results from the infants' Environmental Health (ISA) study.

Background: Growing evidence suggests that pesticide exposure may influence respiratory health, but data in young children are very limited. We examined the association of prenatal pesticide exposure with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) and wheeze at one year of age in children from the Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) study in Costa Rica.

Methods: We measured seven pesticide metabolites, including ethylenethiourea (ETU, metabolite of mancozeb), in maternal urine samples collected repeatedly during pregnancy.

Variability and predictors of weekly pesticide exposure in applicators from organic, sustainable and conventional smallholder farms in Costa Rica.

Objective: Estimates of pesticide exposure among applicators from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are scarce, and exposure assessment methods are sometimes costly or logistically unfeasible. We examined the variability in weeklong pesticide exposure among applicators in Costa Rica and its predictors.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 221 pesticide applicators from organic, sustainable and conventional farms in 2016.

Caregiving and infants' neurodevelopment in rural Costa Rica: Results from the Infants' Environmental Health Study (ISA).

Early caregiving is one of the strongest influences on children's development, and among the most significant modifiable environmental factor. The aim of this study was to explore the association between quality of caregiver-infant interactions and neurodevelopment of infants living in banana-growing communities in rural Costa Rica characterized as having environmental toxic exposures. Home visits were conducted with 94 caregiver-infant dyads from the Infants' Environmental Health Study (ISA), living within Matina county, Limón province.

Respiratory Health Outcomes, Rhinitis, and Eczema in Workers from Grain Storage Facilities in Costa Rica.

Objectives: To examine the associations of inhalable grain dust exposure with respiratory health outcomes, rhinitis, and eczema reported by workers from rice, wheat, and maize storage facilities.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 136 workers (73 operators and 63 administrative staff and other workers) from eight Costa Rican grain storage facilities was conducted in 2014-2015. Full-shift personal inhalable dust samples from all workers were collected.

Prenatal Mancozeb Exposure, Excess Manganese, and Neurodevelopment at 1 Year of Age in the Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) Study.

Background: Although growing evidence suggests that early-life excess manganese (Mn) impairs neurodevelopment, data on the neurodevelopmental effects of mancozeb, a fungicide containing Mn, and its main metabolite ethylenethiourea (ETU) are limited.

Objective: We examined whether prenatal mancozeb exposure and excess Mn were associated with neurodevelopment in 355 1-y-old infants living near banana plantations with frequent aerial mancozeb spraying in Costa Rica.

Methods: We measured urinary ETU, hair Mn, and blood Mn concentrations in samples collected 1-3 times during pregnancy from mothers enrolled in the Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) study.

Dust exposure in workers from grain storage facilities in Costa Rica.

Background: About 12 million workers are involved in the production of basic grains in Central America. However, few studies in the region have examined the occupational factors associated with inhalable dust exposure.

Objectives: (i) To assess the exposure to inhalable dust in workers from rice, maize, and wheat storage facilities in Costa Rica; (ii) to examine the occupational factors associated with this exposure; and (iii) to measure concentrations of respirable and thoracic particles in different areas of the storage facilities.

Worker health and safety and climate change in the Americas: issues and research needs.

SYNOPSIS This report summarizes and discusses current knowledge on the impact that climate change can have on occupational safety and health (OSH), with a particular focus on the Americas. Worker safety and health issues are presented on topics related to specific stressors (e.g.