Trace metal and pesticide exposure in tree planting in British Columbia : Tree planter study

Their result relies on assumptions in the exposure pathway including how often and how long the applicator is exposed, and the activity rate, breathing rate, body weight, and skin exposed of the applicator; as these variables are considerably different for tree planters compared to the professions modeled in the study, the findings should be extrapolated to the tree planting population with cautio [...] The reference group for the exposure variable (estimated number of days of fertilizer use in the previous two years) was no days of fertilizer use in the previous two years. [...] Table 1 gives the site characteristics for the 5 sites participating in the exposure assessment phase of the study, and Table 2 a summary of the individuals. [...] However, they also recommend that levels be kept below 10μg/100mL for women of child bearing potential because of the increased risk of delivering a child with blood lead levels over the recommended level of 10 μg/100mL, and increasing the risk of cognitive deficits in the child. [...] The highest number of blood samples with detectable levels of metals was at the control site, and where concentrations of metals were above the limit of detection, concentrations were similar across all sites.