Adult proxy responses to a survey of children's dermal soil contact activities

Wong, EY; Shirai, JH; Garlock, TJ; Kissel, JC

HERO ID

1060913

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year

2000

Language

English

PMID

11140435

HERO ID 1060913
In Press No
Year 2000
Title Adult proxy responses to a survey of children's dermal soil contact activities
Authors Wong, EY; Shirai, JH; Garlock, TJ; Kissel, JC
Journal Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology
Volume 10
Issue 6 Pt. 1
Page Numbers 509-517
Abstract Contaminated site cleanup decisions may require estimation of dermal exposures to soil. Telephone surveys represent one means of obtaining relevant activity pattern data. The initial Soil Contact Survey (SCS-I), which primarily gathered information on the activities of adults, was conducted in 1996. Data describing adult behaviors have been previously reported. Results from a second Soil Contact Survey (SCS-II), performed in 1998-1999 and focused on children's activity patterns, are reported here. Telephone surveys were used to query a randomly selected sample of U.S. households. A randomly chosen child, under the age of 18 years, was targeted in each responding household having children. Play activities as well as bathing patterns were investigated to quantify total exposure time, defined as activity time plus delay until washing. Of 680 total survey respondents, 500 (73.5%) reported that their child played outdoors on bare dirt or mixed grass and dirt surfaces. Among these "players," the median reported play frequency was 7 days/week in warm weather and 3 days/week in cold weather. Median play duration was 3 h/day in warm weather and 1 h/day in cold weather. Hand washes were reported to occur a median of 4 times per day in both warm and cold weather months. Bath or shower median frequency was seven times per week in both warm and cold weather. Finally, based on clothing choice data gathered in SCS-I, a median of about 37% of total skin surface is estimated to be exposed during young children's warm weather outdoor play.
Doi 10.1038/sj.jea.7500110
Pmid 11140435
Wosid WOS:000166013800001
Is Certified Translation No
Dupe Override No
Is Public Yes
Language Text English
Keyword children, dermal, exposure, soil, survey, telephone