EN
An explorative field study was conducted to assess residential exposure to pesticides, regularly applied in bulb farming. House dust floor samples were taken from homes of bulb farmers (n = 12) and from homes in close proximity to a bulb field (i.e. non-farmers) (n = 15). Samples were analysed for 7 pesticides used by bulb growers in the sampling period. Of these pesticides, chloropropham, flutolanil and vinchlozolin could be detected in non-farmers homes. All pesticides were detected in farmers' homes, except metamitron. Median concentrations for chloropropham were significantly higher in farmers' homes (0.05 vs. 0.20 µg/m2, p = 0.03). Logistic regression analyses showed that the odds for detecting pesticides were higher in farmers' compared to non-farmers' homes and remained higher after correction for potential confounders. Results showed no significant effect of proximity of a residence to a bulb field for median concentrations of pesticides; however, logistic regression analysis showed a borderline statistically significant effect for detecting chloropropham above the detection limit (OR = 10, p = 0.08). These findings demonstrate that, as expected, risk of exposure is higher for bulb farmers than for non-farmers. They also indicate that exposure to pesticides is not limited to bulb farmers only, and this warrants further investigation.