The topic of my research is environmental justice and pesticide health effects, furthermore my research will explain the correlation between areas with high pesticide use and schools with a high percentage of Hispanic enrollment. To elaborate on the importance of the research, the research proposal must also explain why discovering a positive correlation can help expose environmental justice where a minority group is subjected to environmental hazards, for example Hispanics and pesticides in Ventura County.

The article used is titled “Identifying and managing adverse environmental health effects: ₄. Pesticides”, the article was written by Margaret D. Sanborn, Donald Cole, Alan Abelsohn and Erica Weir. The article can be found on CMAJ Open, an online open-access journal.

First, pesticides are used to “kill animal, insect, plant and fungal pests in agricultural, domestic and institutional settings.” There are three major ways humans absorb toxic pesticides, they are ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption. The people most vulnerable to dermal absorption are children, this is because of “behavioral factors such as hand-mouth behavior and play patterns…”. Schools closest to agricultural pesticide exposure will have a higher toxicity and health effects like non-Hodgkins lymphoma will be more prominent. “Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (also known as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, NHL, or sometimes just lymphoma) is a cancer that starts in white blood cells called lymphocytes, which are part of the body’s immune system (American Cancer Society).”

This research example was used to find reasons why the correlation between pesticides and environmental justice is important. Discovering reasons why a correlation is important will help the subjected change their circumstances.

Sanborn, Margaret D., et al. “Identifying and managing adverse environmental health effects: 4. Pesticides.” Canadian Medical Association Journal 166.11 (2002): 1431-1436.

“What Is Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma?” , www.cancer.org/cancer/non-hodgkin-lymphoma/about/what-is-non-hodgkin-lymphoma.html.

The title of this article is “Disproportionate Proximity to Environmental Health Hazards: Methods, Models, and Measurement”, it can be found in the American Public Health Association. The article was written by Jayajit Chakraborty, Juliana A. Maantay, and Jean D. Brender. Several studies discussing environmental justice or a similar topic were analyzed – the hazards examined and analytical techniques used in each study. Environmental justice is the disproportionate distribution of environmental “goods” and “bads”, with the burden of the bads and the shortage of goods falling mainly on ethnic minorities and lower income populations. The purpose of building a database filled with environmental justice research studies is to explore the different spatial techniques used to analyze the disproportionate proximity to hazards and measure environmental justice. The article reviews the use of the five most popular techniques. The one that best interested me is the “Pollution Plume Modeling”, the other techniques explored lack the ability to accurately estimate the dispersal of pollutants. Buffer zones are not as accurate because it usually depends on the analyst to set an arbitrary radius that may not be correct. Spatial coincidence analysis is another technique that isn’t as accurate, this method uses the number of hazard sources within a zip code or census tract to measure hazardous chemical exposure. This method doesn’t represent the actual size or shape of the area exposed. However, Pollution Plume Modeling uses data on chemical emissions and local meteorological conditions to analyze the dispersal of pollutants. The combined data turns out a hazard release parameter that can delineate the boundaries of a potentially exposed area. Spatially a “footprint” is created, there may be a ring buffer included; this is when ground- level concentrations are ranked. Where this technique falls short is the lack of accounting for ground and water contamination, but because my topic analyzes pesticides and their wind dispersal patterns the technique seems ideal.

Chakraborty, J., Maantay, J. A., & Brender, J. D. (2011). Disproportionate proximity to environmental health hazards: methods, models, and measurement. American Journal of Public Health, 101(S1), S27-S36

The article I chose to use for this exercise can be found on Environmental Health Perspectives, it is titled “GIS Modeling of Air Toxics Releases from TRI- Reporting and Non-TRI-Reporting Facilities: Impacts for Environmental Justice”. This article was written by Dana C. Dolinoy and Marie Lynn Miranda.

I chose this article because I was looking for methods on how to use geographical information systems to measure environmental justice. As I read through the article I came to realize that there wasn’t a clear way of how the project used demographics and environmental justice (air quality) data to map a correlation between the two. I decided to continue using the article because it contained helpful information about the Census Bureau and how data like air quality is estimated in order to create a map.

To begin, the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) require facilities to report the chemical releases of the year annually, but there is an issue when monitoring the total number of released toxics when non- TRI reporting facilities don’t report. This relates to my project because there might be pesticide use that goes unreported; how can I measure this to create and accurate map? Having the tools needed to measure the exact levels of toxicity lets the research team find correlations. For example, in 1990, 80% of Hispanics lived in counties that exceeded on of the criteria of air pollutant standards the federal government set. This project used demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau to collect data on ethnicity, poverty, household income, and percentage of children in poverty in Durham County, North Carolina. When I came up with my research question I was confused as to how I should map out certain demographics, it turns out the census Bureau information can be broken into different geographic scales: ZIP code, tracts, block groups, and blocks. Furthermore, TRI data must be collected and reported to the Environmental Protection Agency; the project had TRI facility locations geocoded (latitude and longitude coordinates) and mapped. There are 874 TRI sites releasing more than 126 million pounds of contaminates in the air in Durham County. Non- TRI reports were extracted from marketing directories; there are 400 non- TRI reporting facilities.

Dolinoy, D. C., & Miranda, M. L. (2004). GIS modeling of air toxics releases from TRI-reporting and non-TRI-reporting facilities: impacts for environmental justice. Environmental health perspectives, 112(17), 1717.

The research example I am using for this exercise is titled “Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and Neurodevelopment in Young Mexican-American Children”, this research can be found in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The topic of my research has been changed, instead of looking at the effects of pesticides of human health I will be looking at the environmental injustice linked to the widespread use of pesticides. The study conducted an investigation of the neurodevelopment and behavior of a cohort made up of Latino children from farmworker families in the Salinas Valley of California. Some background, billion pounds of pesticides are used per year in the United States, most of them are used in agriculture. The exposures of pesticides are widespread, this includes pregnant woman and children. This study researched the relationship of prenatal and child Organophosphate urinary metabolite levels. 6 nonspecific metabolites in maternal and child urine. The effects of organophosphate overtime were measured using the different age groups 6, 12, and 24 months of age. This form of testing better explains how the pesticides effect children as they develop in their first years of life. Each child was assigned Mental Development and Psychomotor Development Indices and a report on the Child Behavior Checklist. Fetuses and young children may be more susceptible to the neuro effects of pesticides. This has to do with how fast their brains are developing and their already lower-than-adult levels of detoxifying enzymes. Organophosphate and been known to break down an enzyme which prevents acetylcholine from building up in the neuronal junction. The research topic here is the environmental injustice’s related to pesticides and minorities, the research question is ‘are young Mexican-American Children at a higher risk of improper neurodevelopment due to organophosphate pesticide exposure’. The type of data needed to answer this question is demographic data, however in this case the study was conducted on a cohort so there was more data of the report type.

Eskenazi, Brenda, et al. “Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and Neurodevelopment in Young Mexican-American Children.” Environmental Health Perspectives, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, May 2007, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1867968/.

I found this research using the reference list of an article I also found useful on google scholar. The title of this research is “Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution and Incidence of Cardiovascular Events in Women” it can be found in The New England Journal of Medicine. My topic is whether pesticide particulate matter from agrochemical using farms is affecting the health of people who live nearby. In this research example the long-term exposure of particulate matter (PM2.5) and cardiovascular events is monitored and analyzed. I discovered in my last research example that women were least affected by pesticide particulate matter. Meaning there was no correlation between pesticide residues and heart disease. In this research example 65,893 postmenopausal women without previous cardiovascular disease were studied. In this research example however, the effects of air pollution as a whole were being monitored. To narrow the test group women from 36 U.S. major cities from 1994 to 1998 were studied, the women were followed up for 6 years. In order to determine a women’s exposure to air pollution the nearest monitor to each of their locations was used; each of their first cardiovascular event took into account a variety of demographic factors. 1816 women had either several cardiovascular events or passed away. The results showed that levels of PM2.5 ranged from 3.4 to 28.3 μg per cubic meter. With each increase of 10 μg there was an increase of cardiovascular events by 24% and a 74% increase of death. When reading the research, the results turned out as I expected, with an increase in PM2.5 come an increase in heart disease for both men and women. However, this research was conducted in cities, the air pollution in cities must be vastly different that air pollution in rural areas where pesticide using farms are mainly located. This research still leaves me wondering why males are more susceptible to heart disease due to pesticide PM2.5 than women, perhaps in the last research example the women being studies were mostly spouses of male pesticide applicators or farmers and were therefore exposed less.

Miller, Kristine A. “Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution and Incidence of Cardiovascular Events in Women.” NewEnglandJournalofMedicine, 1 Feb. 2007, www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa054409

I used google scholar in order to find a research example that best fits my topic, my topic is agrochemicals and whether or not they increase the chances of heart disease. I’ve stumbled upon a few articles and online research examples that address the same concept of particulate matter and heart disease. The research article I’m using is titled “Long-Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter: Association with Nonaccidental and Cardiovascular Mortality in the Agricultural Health Study Cohort” and can be found online in Environmental Health Perspectives. The study focused on nonaccidental and cardiovascular mortality in the U.S. Agricultural Health Study Cohort. The Cohort has 83,378 subjects made up of farmers, their spouses, and pesticide applicators mostly found in Iowa and North Carolina. Estimates of PM2.5 were assigned to each subject at enrollment, this helps determine a correlation between pesticides and heart disease. With different PM2.5 values being assigned to each subject of the cohort, it is possible to determine a correlation by determining whether or not there are more deaths amongst subjects with higher PM2.5 values or vice versa. The results were 5,931 nonaccidental and 1,967 cardiovascular deaths over a follow up time of 13.9 years. However, there were positive associations with PM2.5 amongst men, but inverse relationships among woman. This research example has helped me further understand the effects of pesticides on the nearby population. Furthermore, I have no narrowed my research question to only men, due to the lack of correlation of women, heart disease, and pesticides.

“Long-Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter: Association with Nonaccidental and Cardiovascular Mortality in the Agricultural Health Study Cohort.” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1 June 2014, ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1307277/.

The conference proceeding, Enhanced Biodegradation of Pesticides in the Environment written by Kenneth D. Racke and Joel R. Coats, is a secondary source because the authors use results from a variety of literature articles in order to reach a general conclusion on the effects of pesticides in the environment. This book also had an advisory board made up of 16 editors.
Pesticides in the soil ecosystem are not as effective in pest control as was first assumed. According to Racke microbial ecosystems are capable of rapid breakdown of any foreign organic or chemicals materials. This means the soil can clean itself from any pesticide rather rapidly, however this has caused an increased failure in pest control. Do to the resilience of the soil pesticide applicators have to apply more chemicals more often and maintain the toxicity levels in the soil for a longer period of time in order to be effective in killing pests. But furthermore, much of the pesticides that represents direct application to the soil are lost in the atmosphere. Considerable amounts of pesticides reach soils because of spray drift, runoff, or wash-off. Overall, pesticides become tangles with degradation processes that affect all abiotic organics added to the dynamic ecosystem.
This book chapter ties into my topic well, which is the effects of agrochemicals on humans. In order to understand why pesticides are causing harm, I must first understand why pesticides are widely used at such high quantities. It turns out pesticides are terrible at staying in the soil, much of it is lost to the atmosphere and a small portion of it is broken down by UV light. This is why so many pesticides are needed, because a small amount of the pesticides used are actually working. This also helps me understand that much of what is laid down is lost into the atmosphere, this means it is easy for pesticides to move through the air and end up in another location, causing unwanted effects or disease there.

Racke, Kenneth D., and Joel R. Coats. Enhanced Biodegradation of Pesticides in the Environment: Developed from a Symposium Sponsored by the Division of Agrochemicals at the 198th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Miami, Florida, September 10-15, 1989. American Chemical Society, 1990.

The article Agriculture Drainwater Effects on Wildlife in Central California, written by Harry M. Ohlendorf and Roger L. Hothem is found in the Handbook of Ecotoxicology. This handbook is a primary source because it was published by the CRC Press and has a review board made up of 16 reviewers. In California’s San Joaquin Valley and in other agricultural areas in the Western U.S., irrigation wastewater pollutes nearby aquifers with agrochemicals that have been applied to crops in order to combat pests and diseases. Much of the irrigation water is leached into evaporation ponds causing an abundance of food, this is because the soil underneath the evaporation ponds are nutrient packed allowing wild plants to flourish. The focus of this article is to analyze the effects of subsurface agricultural drainwater on the San Joaquin Valley wildlife. For the sake of the blog I will skip the methods used and move onto the findings. Most of the effects of agricultural drainwater on wildlife were first recorded at Kesterson Reservoir in 1983. The number one element in concern was Selenium because it bio accumulates and is toxic to bird embryos, birds, frogs, snakes, and mammals. Other elements were also recorded in high concentrations in organisms and evaporation ponds. This article ties well into my topic, which is the effects of agrochemicals on humans. This article helps prove the presence of agrochemical particles in subsurface agricultural drainwater. It would be interesting to assess how many people have reported heart disease or cancers and whether or not there is a correlation between where they live and where they get their water from. If many people are reporting diseases near agricultural fields and are drinking well water, that water should be tested for agrochemical particles.

Ohlendorf, H. M., & Hothem, R. L. (n.d.). Agricultural Drainwater Effects on Wildlife in Central California. In Handbook of ecotoxicology. Lewis .