A prospective cohort study of school-going children investigating reproductive and neurobehavioral health effects due to environmental pesticide exposure in the Western Cape, South Africa: study protocol

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dc.contributor.authorChetty-Mhlanga, Shala
dc.contributor.authorBasera, Wisdom
dc.contributor.authorFuhrimann, Samuel
dc.contributor.authorProbst-Hensch, Nicole
dc.contributor.authorDelport, Steven
dc.contributor.authorMugari, Mufaro
dc.contributor.authorVan Wyk, Jennifer
dc.contributor.authorRöösli, Martin
dc.contributor.authorDalvie, Mohamed A
dc.date.accessioned2018-07-16T13:30:41Z
dc.date.available2018-07-16T13:30:41Z
dc.date.issued2018-07-11
dc.date.updated2018-07-15T03:27:12Z
dc.description.abstractAbstract Background Research on reproductive health effects on children from low-level, long-term exposure to pesticides currently used in the agricultural industry is limited and those on neurobehavioral effects have produced conflicting evidence. We aim at investigating the association between pesticide exposure on the reproductive health and neurobehavior of children in South Africa, by including potential relevant co-exposures from the use of electronic media and maternal alcohol consumption. Methods The design entails a prospective cohort study with a follow-up duration of 2 years starting in 2017, including 1000 school going children between the ages of 9 to 16 years old. Children are enrolled with equal distribution in sex and residence on farms and non-farms in three different agricultural areas (mainly apple, table grapes and wheat farming systems) in the Western Cape, South Africa. The neurobehavior primary health outcome of cognitive functioning was measured through the iPad-based CAmbridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) including domains for attention, memory, and processing speed. The reproductive health outcomes include testicular size in boys and breast size in girls assessed in a physical examination, and blood samples to detect hormone levels and anthropometric measurements. Information on pesticide exposure, co-exposures and relevant confounders are obtained through structured questionnaire interviews with the children and their guardians. Environmental occurrence of pesticides will be determined while using a structured interview with farm owners and review of spraying records and collection of passive water and air samples in all three areas. Pesticide metabolites will be analysed in urine and hair samples collected from the study subjects every 4 months starting at baseline. Discussion The inclusion of three different agricultural areas will yield a wide range of pesticide exposure situations. The prospective longitudinal design is a further strength of this study to evaluate the reproductive and neurobehavioural effects of different pesticides on children. This research will inform relevant policies and regulatory bodies to improve the health, safety and learning environments for children and families in agricultural settings.
dc.identifier.apacitationChetty-Mhlanga, S., Basera, W., Fuhrimann, S., Probst-Hensch, N., Delport, S., Mugari, M., ... Dalvie, M. A. (2018). A prospective cohort study of school-going children investigating reproductive and neurobehavioral health effects due to environmental pesticide exposure in the Western Cape, South Africa: study protocol. <i>BMC Public Health</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/28302en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationChetty-Mhlanga, Shala, Wisdom Basera, Samuel Fuhrimann, Nicole Probst-Hensch, Steven Delport, Mufaro Mugari, Jennifer Van Wyk, Martin Röösli, and Mohamed A Dalvie "A prospective cohort study of school-going children investigating reproductive and neurobehavioral health effects due to environmental pesticide exposure in the Western Cape, South Africa: study protocol." <i>BMC Public Health</i> (2018) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/28302en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBMC Public Health. 2018 Jul 11;18(1):857
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Chetty-Mhlanga, Shala AU - Basera, Wisdom AU - Fuhrimann, Samuel AU - Probst-Hensch, Nicole AU - Delport, Steven AU - Mugari, Mufaro AU - Van Wyk, Jennifer AU - Röösli, Martin AU - Dalvie, Mohamed A AB - Abstract Background Research on reproductive health effects on children from low-level, long-term exposure to pesticides currently used in the agricultural industry is limited and those on neurobehavioral effects have produced conflicting evidence. We aim at investigating the association between pesticide exposure on the reproductive health and neurobehavior of children in South Africa, by including potential relevant co-exposures from the use of electronic media and maternal alcohol consumption. Methods The design entails a prospective cohort study with a follow-up duration of 2 years starting in 2017, including 1000 school going children between the ages of 9 to 16 years old. Children are enrolled with equal distribution in sex and residence on farms and non-farms in three different agricultural areas (mainly apple, table grapes and wheat farming systems) in the Western Cape, South Africa. The neurobehavior primary health outcome of cognitive functioning was measured through the iPad-based CAmbridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) including domains for attention, memory, and processing speed. The reproductive health outcomes include testicular size in boys and breast size in girls assessed in a physical examination, and blood samples to detect hormone levels and anthropometric measurements. Information on pesticide exposure, co-exposures and relevant confounders are obtained through structured questionnaire interviews with the children and their guardians. Environmental occurrence of pesticides will be determined while using a structured interview with farm owners and review of spraying records and collection of passive water and air samples in all three areas. Pesticide metabolites will be analysed in urine and hair samples collected from the study subjects every 4 months starting at baseline. Discussion The inclusion of three different agricultural areas will yield a wide range of pesticide exposure situations. The prospective longitudinal design is a further strength of this study to evaluate the reproductive and neurobehavioural effects of different pesticides on children. This research will inform relevant policies and regulatory bodies to improve the health, safety and learning environments for children and families in agricultural settings. DA - 2018-07-11 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - BMC Public Health LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2018 T1 - A prospective cohort study of school-going children investigating reproductive and neurobehavioral health effects due to environmental pesticide exposure in the Western Cape, South Africa: study protocol TI - A prospective cohort study of school-going children investigating reproductive and neurobehavioral health effects due to environmental pesticide exposure in the Western Cape, South Africa: study protocol UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/28302 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5783-0
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/28302
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationChetty-Mhlanga S, Basera W, Fuhrimann S, Probst-Hensch N, Delport S, Mugari M, et al. A prospective cohort study of school-going children investigating reproductive and neurobehavioral health effects due to environmental pesticide exposure in the Western Cape, South Africa: study protocol. BMC Public Health. 2018; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/28302.en_ZA
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherBioMed Central
dc.publisher.departmentDivision of Occupational Therapyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rights.holderThe Author(s).
dc.sourceBMC Public Health
dc.source.urihttps://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/
dc.subject.otherPesticides
dc.subject.otherLow exposures
dc.subject.otherReproductive health
dc.subject.otherNeurobehaviour
dc.subject.otherCo-exposures
dc.subject.otherSchool-going children
dc.subject.otherRural communities
dc.subject.otherEndocrine disruption
dc.subject.otherAir and water
dc.titleA prospective cohort study of school-going children investigating reproductive and neurobehavioral health effects due to environmental pesticide exposure in the Western Cape, South Africa: study protocol
dc.typeJournal Article
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