Researchers at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute caution that, once applied, indoor-use semivolatile pesticides can be released into the air and then be absorbed into toys and other objects accessible to children playing in the treated area one week later. Children can then become exposed, Lioy said, by touching and chewing on toys with accumulated pesticides, and by putting their hands into their mouths. The scientists reported their tests in both the electronic and printed versions of the January Environmental Health Perspectives, the journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Semivolatile pesticides can be found in either a gaseous or solid form depending on the temperature of the room.
Most common pesticides are semivolatile.
Our research indicates that the semivolatile nature of this and other compounds warrants that parents be very cautious with their use and the reintroduction of toys and other objects in rooms used by children within at least the first few days after pesticide application. To test their hypothesis, the researchers treated two apartments with chlorpyrifos and then opened the windows to ventilate the rooms for the recommended four hours. One hour following the pesticide application, they placed groups of plastic and plush toys within prepared grids on the living room floor. The toys then were removed at specified intervals to measure the amount of the chemical that had collected on their surfaces. Surface wipe samples were also taken from the top of a dresser in one of the bedrooms.