The Lucknow Sentinel, 1996-03-13, Page 49•
Pilot study will
exposure t o
About 300 Ontario farm will Frovido an un
mg in a landmark pilot study to
help determine, predict and pre-
vent exposure from agricul.`
tupral chemicals,
he •
T $600,000 pestielde
exposure assessment pilot
study, led by Health Canada
epidemiologist l'Ye Arbuckle„
will be conducted by University
• of Guelph environment biology
professor Len. Ritter, executive
director of ,the Canadian
Network of .toxicology Centres
(CNTC). He will carry out the
study on behalf of the Bureau of
. Reproductive and Child Health,
Laboratory Centre for Disease
• Control, Health Canada.
The.study will focus on vari-
ables in farmers" fields and
homes that most profoundly
. affect exposure. These include
• such factors as contamination of
drinking water, drift of farm
chemical sprays and the. use of
personal protection devices
such as impervious coveralls
• and rubber gloves and boots.
In each farm family, 'body -
fluid samples will be collected
from the farm operator, the
operator's spouse and one of
• their 'children. Ritter says this
families will soon be participar- detai ed picture of e
ine
0 ji,
Ica $
edented about w at causes 14 the more
ure and- you can help it from occurring,
suggest ways to jiviiit.
"The results of this study
will give us a new level ofcon-
fidence to explain the relation-
ship between fariii practices and
chemical exposure," he says,
"Later, whennational studies of
. disease outcomes are conduct
ed, it will enable scientists to.
• ask farmers certainquestions
and predict exposure based on
the answers, instead of having
to do .a mass biological analy-
sis."
Previous studies have shown
that in some cases, farm fami-
- lies are more prone to malattio$
• such as certain forms of cancer
and respiratory and reproduc-
tive problems (priMarily still-
births) than, other segments of
the population are, The relation-
ship between* these 4problems
and chemicals exposure is sus-
pected, but has never been con-
clusive because studies that
definitively identified exposure
levels were lacking.
"It's easy to study a disease's
outcome, but it doesn't tell' you
what may have caused the dis-
ease," says Ritter. "The more
accurate information you have
•
•
Vire• want to be able to better
able to determine if exposure is.
causing the problem."
Collaborators on this study
will be other environmental
biology faculty pod participints
in the CNTC, the Ontario,
Ministry of Agriculture, Food
and Rural Affairs (01401AFEA)
.and the U.S, National Institute
of: Occupational Safety•and
Health.
As many as ,20 ,part-time
positions will be created to help -
carry out. the study. Analysis,
techniques •will include exten-
sive use of -video imaging, a
new -technique In which U of G
and 01VIAVRA are leaders. It
involves adding a fluorescent
'dye to, the farm chemical prior
td use, then taking post-expO-
. sure video. images of farmers
with a 'camera' that, can detect
fluorescence. The resulting
images clearly show the degree
of exposure.
"Earlier research has _sug-
gested that the we, of protective
clothing can crgrillicantly
reduce risk by reducing expo -
surd," says Ritter.
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