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Wide-Area Pesticide Use To assess exposure of the 2,100 women in the Cape Cod Breast Cancer and Environment Study to pesticides applied aerially to cranberry bogs or to treat tree pests, Silent Spring Institute researchers developed a new GIS tool, the Spatial Proximity Tool. In other areas where pesticides were likely to have been used on the Cape, including agriculture other than cranberry bogs, wetlands, rights-of-way, and golf courses, pesticides were primarily applied from the ground. For these exposures, the GIS is used to calculate acres of pesticide use within a specified distance of each residence to represent the intensity of the exposure. Because some agricultural land becomes residential, resulting in residents' higher exposure to persistent pesticides, the study team evaluated separately whether women in the study lived directly on agricultural land. The category of wetlands was included as a surrogate for areas treated with pesticides to control mosquitoes. Rights-of-way calculations captured the exposures from herbicides sprayed long power lines and railroads. More Information |
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