Comment évaluer l'exposition aux pesticides de l’air en population générale ? Enseignements d’une revue bibliographique

Abstract

This paper presents the methodologies used to assess environmental exposure to air pesticides. It relies on a literature review conducted on the basis of articles published in epidemiology and human science journals, concerning environmental exposure in North America, Europe and Australia. The first part of the paper presents direct assessment methods (pesticides concentrations in air, house dust or biological matrices) and indirect methods (estimates indicators based on agricultural land-use, type of crops, applied pesticide and auto-declaration of pesticide use). These two types of methods are mainly oriented towards an assessment of exposure at place of residence. Secondly the explanations of the spatial variability of pesticide exposure are discussed. Two modes of explanation are put forward: the variation is a function of the distance to the application site; the variation depends on the residential context (rural, peri-urban and urban). Finally, the limits of the exposure assessment methods are exposed: the results are difficult to compare as the authors use a wide range of methodologies. Besides, urban areas are almost never included in the studies and the mobility of the resident population on the short or long term is rarely taken into account.

Keywords

• space
• environment
• pollution
• population
• pesticide
• exposure