Abstract
The aim of the present work was the application of hair biomonitoring to investigate exposure to pesticides in children and their parents residing in a vineyard area. Thirty-three children and 16 parents were involved in the study. Hair samples were self-collected before and after the application season (PRE- and POST-EXP samples). Information on study subjects and the use of pesticides in the area were obtained. Thirty-nine pesticides were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, and thirty-one pesticides were quantifiable in at least one hair sample. Most frequently detected pesticides were chlorpyrifos, cycloxidim, dimethomorph, metalaxyl, spiroxamine, and tetraconazole. From PRE-EXP to POST-EXP the percentage of quantification and/or the concentration of pesticides increased; the concentration was typically in the low pg/mg hair range with comparable levels in children and parents. An inverse correlation was found between the total exposure to pesticides in POST-EXP hair samples and the distance between home and the treated fields (Spearman ρ = -0.380, p = 0.01). The results of this study show that the majority of the study pesticides were measured in the hair of subjects living in the close proximity of treated vineyards, supporting the determination of pesticides in hair for the purpose of biomonitoring cumulative exposure in the general population.