Exposure to agricultural pesticides and wheezing among 5–12-year-old children in the Imperial Valley, CA, USA

Abstract

Background: Exposure to pesticides has been linked to adverse respiratory health outcomes in children. Methods: We leveraged the Children’s Assessing Imperial Valley Respiratory Health and the Environment cohort located in the rural community of Imperial Valley near the US–Mexico border. We calculated the kilograms of total pesticides applied within 400 m of children’s residential addresses for the years 2016–2020. Estimated pesticide usage near homes was categorized into three groups (none vs. low vs. high [split at the median]). All health variables (i.e., asthma status and wheezing) were derived from a parent-reported questionnaire on respiratory health. We used generalized linear models, controlling for child sex, the language of survey, health insurance, respondents’ highest education, and exposure to environmental secondhand smoking, to calculate prevalence differences between none versus low and high exposure to agricultural pesticides. Results: Approximately 62% of the 708 children (aged 5–12 years) lived within 400 m of at least one pesticide application within 12 months prior to survey administration. Exposure to pesticides within 400 m of children’s residences was associated with 12-month prior wheeze. Those in the “high” exposure group had a prevalence of wheezing that was 10 (95% confidence interval: 2%, 17%) percentage points higher than among children not exposed to pesticide applications. Associations for high exposure to specific categories of pesticide applications, sulfur only, all pesticides except sulfur, chlorpyrifos, and glyphosate, also were observed with a higher prevalence of wheezing than among children not exposed to pesticide applications. Conclusions: We observed associations between living near pesticide applications and more wheeze symptoms among children.