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INVESTIGATOR: El Afandi, G. S.; Ankumah, RA, O..; Egiebor, EG, .

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY
TUSKEGEE, ALABAMA 36088

RISK ASSESSMENT OF PESTICIDE USE AND AIR DISPERSION IN URBAN AGRICULTURAL INTERFACE COMMUNITIES

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Due to proximity, pesticide concentrations in ambient air are higher in agricultural communities and near treated fields. During the pesticide application, the direction drift of pesticide is critical to its impact on nearby communities. Some of the health problems that affect populations living in the urban-rural interface is believed to stem from exposure to pesticide vapors that are present in the atmosphere following the application of the product by farmers. The extent of this on populations living in the urban-agricultural interface is not clear, although some residents in the urban agricultural interface have attributed various ailments (allergies, cancer, birth defects, male sterility,contamination of breast milk, genetic mutations, respiratory diseases, and many more) to pesticideexposure.There is a limited research done in integrating current knowledge on weather prediction into pesticide application practices. There is, therefore, a need for developing methods for further investigating the extent of pesticide exposure on the urban-agricultural interface and the effect of weather patterns on pesticide drift. In addition, there is a need to raise the awareness of residents in urban-agricultural interfaces about the possible risks posed by such type of pollution.The proposed study, therefore, seeks to evaluate present methods for monitoring and modeling the atmospheric spread of pesticide pollutants in urban-agricultural areas, identify hotspots of occurrence, and assess the vulnerability of affected communities. It is expected that the project will lead to the development of a decision-support tool that will be beneficial for communities living in urban-agricultural interfaces.

OBJECTIVES: The overall goal of this study is to understand the impact of pesticide application on the urban agricultural interface by incorporating current advances in weather forecasting and to estimate vulnerabilities of communities to pesticide exposure.The proposed study seeks to determine the concentration of pesticides, monitor and model the atmospheric spread of pesticide pollutants in urban-agricultural areas, identify hotspots of occurrence, and assess the vulnerability of affected communities. The specific objectives are to:a) Determine the concentration of airborne pesticides in urban agricultural communities and the related meteorological conditions.b) Develop pesticide concentrations dispersion and trajectory model as influenced by weather conditions.c) Map the study areas using GIS technologyd) Determine the public health risk of pesticide inhalation and educate the community about the risk of pesticide exposure.

APPROACH: Plan of Operation and MethodologyThe proposed research involves technical research and education. The educational purpose will be realized by involving graduate and undergraduate students under the supervision of (Co)-PDs. The proposed project plan is to collect air samples from two sites in Alabama and Illinois and examine the effects of the pesticide application practices on the urban-agriculture interface.GIS will be used to provide an efficient decision support tool for developing a geospatial management system, which will help monitor and predict pesticide exposure and mitigate the impacts of atmospheric pesticide on populations. Air samples collected will be measured forrespective pesticides by GC and HPLC methods.EffortsSeveral studies have established the link between pesticide exposure and adverse health effects, but research calculating the possible health risks for communities residing close to farmlands is limited. It is anticipated that this project will develop a new tool by integrating different models and software, aimed at a consistent workflow. This workflow will include a high-resolution climate model, air parcel trajectories and dispersion model, risk analysis and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Therefore, the project will enhance and improve research and teaching capabilities at both participating institutions. New methods and tools will be developed to assist different end-users such as farmers to better understand how and when to spray pesticides on their agricultural crops in such interface communities. The project will be conducted in two different agroecological zones with different production systems as well as involve two different communities, one that is a predominantly underserved community in Alabama and the other, an agricultural community in Springfield, IL.An assessment indicator will be used to test the success of the project in the dissemination of the results. We will also evaluate the success of the project based on the number of participants at training workshops. Another indicator will be the number of publications, in peer-reviewed journals, proceedings, brochures, and media. Procedures for managing and monitoring, the evaluation and reporting will include periodical meetings and project evaluation at the end of each year. Both the PI and Co-PIs will meet regularly to continue managing and monitoring the project objectives and timeline implementation. This monitoring will enable the measurement of the executed activities and achieved outcomes. The project administrators will execute the evaluation procedures to ensure the desired progress of the project. At the same time, all required reports will be prepared and submitted to the funding agency on time. An external evaluator will be named to conduct the evaluation at the mid-term and end of the project.