Reducing Pesticide Exposures in Child Care Centers

Summary

A randomized control study was conducted to reduce the exposure to pesticides in child care centers. A 7-month child care health consultant-led integrated pest management (IPM) intervention was conducted in 85 child care centers serving preschool-age children in five California counties. Changes in IPM knowledge, self-efficacy, policies, IPM practices, pests, and pesticide exposure were assessed in the IPM centers and the control centers.

Conditions

• Children, Only
• Risk Reduction
• Environmental Exposure

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Changes in pesticide exposure

In the IPM centers the child care health consultant reviews the IPM baseline assessments and provides 7 monthly consultation visits to decrease the centers exposure to pesticides. Pre- and post- carpet dust samples and children's individual silicone wristbands are collected to identify changes in pesticide detection limits and concentrations at the child care center-level in both the IPM and PA centers pre- and post-intervention.

BEHAVIORAL

IPM Practices

In the IPM centers, a research assistant completed the IPM Checklist which identifies the IPM practices that the center meets and doesn't meet. The child care health consultant reviews the IPM Checklist findings with the child care center director after the baseline Checklist is completed. The IPM Checklist is completed pre- and post-intervention in the IPM and PA centers. The post-intervention IPM Checklist findings are compared to the baseline IPM Checklist findings to identify changes in IPM practices in both the IPM and PA centers.

BEHAVIORAL

Educational Workshops

The IPM center directors and providers attend an IPM workshop and complete a survey to assess their knowledge of IPM practices pre- and post-workshop. The level of knowledge change is assessed by comparing the number of correct responses on the post-workshop survey compared to the pre-workshop survey.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

  collaborator NIH

• University of California, Berkeley

  collaborator OTHER

• Oregon State University

  collaborator OTHER

• University of California, San Francisco

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Thaddeus Schug, PhD · National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

3 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-10-09

Primary Completion

2024-08-01

Completion

2024-08-01

Countries

• United States

Study Locations