Environmental Studies professor developing a cost-effective method to measure pesticide exposure in professionals working for lawn care companies

By Mike Frontiero
VCU School of Education

Virginia Commonwealth University's Center for Environmental Studies and the VCU Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health have received a three-year, $624,233 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help develop a cost-effective method to measure pesticide exposure in lawn care professionals.

"Results of the study could benefit cancer research and anyone exposed to pesticides, including homeowners," said principal investigator Shelley A. Harris, Ph.D., a professor of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health. "Some insecticides and herbicides have been associated with lymphomas, leukemias, breast and prostate cancers. However, we do not know if these associations are causal."

Harris is conducting the national study with TruGreen ChemLawn, the largest turf applicator in the United States, to help the company determine potential long-term health effects of pesticides on more than 40,000 workers.

Currently, pesticide companies must use expensive and time-consuming blood and urine analysis to see if their workers are at risk. Harris is working with the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services, VCU's School of Medicine, and the departments of Mathematics and Chemistry to develop methods to measure and predict exposures in the applicators using self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaires will gather information on all known variables that could potentially increase or decrease pesticide exposure and the results will be compared with concentrations of pesticides measured in urine samples.

Field studies will begin in the Richmond area this summer and then expand nationally next year.