Exposure to Pesticides by Medium and Route: The 90th Percentile and Related Uncertainties

Multiple route, multiple media distributions of exposure to chlorpyrifos and diazinon and associated uncertainties are investigated using the database generated by the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey in Arizona (NHEXAS-AZ). Exposure to pesticides and associated uncertainties may be estimated using either deterministic or probabilistic methods. This paper employs probabilistic models to estimate the 90th percentile of inhalation, dietary ingestion, dermal, and nondietary ingestion exposures to chlorpyrifos and diazinon. Questions associated with the uncertainty of exposure estimates for the two pesticides are also investigated. Probabilistic models are used to formulate distributions of exposures to each of the two pesticides for several subpopulation groups. Parameter uncertainties associated with the 90th and other percentiles of population and subpopulation groups are addressed in this paper. Highly exposed subpopulations have been defined as those with route-specific 90th percentile exposure that is higher than the population 90th percentile. All subjects exposed to levels above the 90th percentile of inhalation exposure live in dwellings with carpeting covering over 50% of their floor areas. The relative uncertainty of the 90th percentile of dermal exposure is larger than corresponding uncertainties for inhalation, dietary ingestion, and nondietary exposure.