Relative frequencies of exposure assessment methods (EAM) according to outcomes categories in articles on occupational pesticide exposure and various health outcomes
| Study outcome | Self-reported health outcomes | Cancer | Genetic biomarkers | Neurological | Reproductive+offspring | Respiratory | Mortality | Other* | ||||||||||||||
| (all-cause) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of articles | 196 | 310 | 165 | 149 | 135 | 29 | 64 | 223 | ||||||||||||||
| Number of EAM occurrences in articles | 205 | 394 | 184 | 94 | 77 | 97 | 76 | 6 | 23 | 78 | 249 | |||||||||||
| Self-reported | Doctor diagnosed | Test result† | Doctor diagnosed | Test result | Doctor diagnosed | Test result | Doctor diagnosed | Test result | Doctor diagnosed | Test result and doctor diagnosed | ||||||||||||
| EAM: | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % |
| Indirect EAM | 175 | 85.4 | 376 | 95.4 | 134 | 72.8 | 91 | 96.8 | 46 | 59.7 | 95 | 97.9 | 50 | 59.7 | 6 | 100 | 17 | 73.9 | 67 | 85.9 | 162 | 65.1 |
| Direct EAM | 29 | 14.1 | 18 | 4.6 | 46 | 25 | 3 | 3.2 | 31 | 40.3 | 2 | 2.1 | 25 | 32.9 | – | – | 6 | 26.1 | 11 | 14.1 | 82 | 32.9 |
| EAM not reported | 1 | 0.5 | – | – | 4 | 2.2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1.3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | 2 |
| Indirect EAM: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Job title | 25 | 12.2 | 22 | 5.6 | 46 | 25 | 6 | 6.4 | 15 | 19.5 | 7 | 7.2 | 3 | 3.9 | – | – | 4 | 17.4 | 21 | 26.9 | 33 | 13.3 |
| Expert case-by-case | 3 | 1.5 | 29 | 7.4 | 3 | 1.6 | 8 | 8.5 | 3 | 3.9 | 17 | 17.5 | 7 | 9.2 | – | – | – | – | 7 | 9 | 7 | 2.8 |
| Self-reported exposure: self-administered or interview administered questionnaire | 131 | 63.9 | 168 | 42.6 | 66 | 35.9 | 44 | 46.8 | 22 | 28.6 | 29 | 29.9 | 25 | 32.9 | 5 | 83.3 | 6 | 26.1 | 5 | 6.4 | 89 | 35.7 |
| Self-reported job history: self-administered or interview administered questionnaire | 4 | 2 | 42 | 10.7 | 6 | 3.3 | 16 | 17.0 | 2 | 2.6 | 18 | 18.6 | 5 | 6.6 | 1 | 16.7 | 1 | 4.3 | 3 | 3.8 | 5 | 2.0 |
| Registers | 5 | 2.4 | 28 | 7.1 | 6 | 3.3 | 7 | 7.4 | . | .- | 8 | 8.2 | 1 | 1.3 | . | . | . | . | 16 | 20.5 | 14 | 5.6 |
| Job exposure matrix | 4 | 2 | 31 | 7.9 | . | . | 8 | 8.5 | . | . | 12 | 12.4 | 3 | 3.9 | . | . | 4 | 17.4 | 6 | 7.7 | 1 | 0.4 |
| Crop exposure matrix | . | . | 1 | 0.3 | – | – | 1 | 1.1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0.4 |
| Task exposure matrix | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Algorithm/model | 3 | 1.5 | 49 | 12.4 | 4 | 2.2 | 1 | 1.1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3.1 | 3 | 4 | – | – | 1 | 4.3 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 2.8 |
| Index | – | – | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1.3 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1.3 | – | – |
| Metric | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1.3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Score | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0.4 |
| Environmental monitoring | – | – | 1 | 0.3 | 3 | 1.6 | – | – | 1 | 1.3 | – | – | 2 | 2.6 | – | – | 1 | 4.3 | – | – | 4 | 1.6 |
| GIS | – | – | 1 | 0.2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1.3 | – | – | ||
| Direct EAM: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Biomonitoring: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blood | 22 | 10.7 | 15 | 3.8 | 34 | 18.5 | 3 | 3.2 | 18 | 23.4 | 2 | 2.1 | 13 | 17.1 | – | – | 5 | 21.7 | 9 | 11.5 | 54 | 21.7 |
| Urine | 7 | 3.4 | 1 | 0.3 | 11 | 6 | – | – | 13 | 16.9 | – | – | 11 | 14.5 | – | – | 1 | 4.3 | 1 | 1.3 | 24 | 9.6 |
| Dermal | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1.3 | 1 | 0.4 |
| Hair | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0.4 |
| Adipose tissue | – | – | 1 | 0.3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1.3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0.4 |
| Personal air sampling | – | – | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0.4 |
*Miscellaneous outcomes with very low frequencies, for example, musculoskeletal disorders, suicide and diseases of the circulatory system.
†Refers to results from medical/diagnostic tests for a disease.
GIS, geographical information systems.