Expert assessment of historical crop specific pesticide use in the Netherlands

TY - JOUR

T1 - Expert assessment of historical crop specific pesticide use in the Netherlands

AU - Brouwer, M.

AU - Huss, A.

AU - Vermeulen, R.

AU - Nijssen, P.

AU - de Snoo, G.R.

AU - Kromhout, H.

N1 - ISI Document Delivery No.: AP1SC Times Cited: 5 Cited Reference Count: 31 Brouwer, Maartje Huss, Anke Vermeulen, Roel Nijssen, Peter de Snoo, Geert Kromhout, Hans Kromhout, Hans/A-9159-2008; Vermeulen, Roel/F-8037-2011 Kromhout, Hans/0000-0002-4233-1890; Vermeulen, Roel/0000-0003-4082-8163 Stichting Internationaal Parkinson Fonds (The Netherlands) [2007-18] This study was partly supported by funding from the Stichting Internationaal Parkinson Fonds (The Netherlands), research grant 2007-18. 5 0 6 Bmj publishing group London 1470-7926 <Go to ISI>://WOS:000341850500010

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Objectives Retrospective assessment of environmental pesticide exposure is challenging. Exposure measurements or information on crop-specific pesticide use are often lacking historically. We applied expert assessment to reconstruct historical pesticide use patterns in the Netherlands, and evaluated reliability and accuracy of this procedure. Methods For six main crops in the Netherlands, two experts per crop individually rated the probability (percentage of farmers applying) and frequency of use of authorised active ingredients between 1961 and 2005 per 5-year period. Inter-rater agreement was investigated by the percentage overall agreement and weighted Cohen's kappa's (kappa(W)). Experts' ratings were compared with self-reported pesticide use from recent farmer surveys to determine accuracy of the ratings. Results Inter-rater agreement on the probability of use varied between crops (kappa(W) 0.25 to 0.69), as well as agreement on the frequency of use (kappa(W) 0.32 to 0.64). Inter-rater agreement was marginally higher for herbicides and fungicides than insecticides. Comparisons with survey data indicated fair to good accuracy of the experts' ratings for the probability (kappa(W) 0.48 to 0.65) and frequency of use (kappa(W) 0.38 to 0.68). For all crops except fruit, the specificity of the experts' ratings was higher than the sensitivity. Conclusions Overall inter-rater agreement between experts was fair to good and experts' ratings were reasonably accurate. Results of this study indicate that expert assessment can be used to derive information on historical pesticide use, which is essential for epidemiological studies evaluating the effect of (past) environmental exposure to pesticides on health.

AB - Objectives Retrospective assessment of environmental pesticide exposure is challenging. Exposure measurements or information on crop-specific pesticide use are often lacking historically. We applied expert assessment to reconstruct historical pesticide use patterns in the Netherlands, and evaluated reliability and accuracy of this procedure. Methods For six main crops in the Netherlands, two experts per crop individually rated the probability (percentage of farmers applying) and frequency of use of authorised active ingredients between 1961 and 2005 per 5-year period. Inter-rater agreement was investigated by the percentage overall agreement and weighted Cohen's kappa's (kappa(W)). Experts' ratings were compared with self-reported pesticide use from recent farmer surveys to determine accuracy of the ratings. Results Inter-rater agreement on the probability of use varied between crops (kappa(W) 0.25 to 0.69), as well as agreement on the frequency of use (kappa(W) 0.32 to 0.64). Inter-rater agreement was marginally higher for herbicides and fungicides than insecticides. Comparisons with survey data indicated fair to good accuracy of the experts' ratings for the probability (kappa(W) 0.48 to 0.65) and frequency of use (kappa(W) 0.38 to 0.68). For all crops except fruit, the specificity of the experts' ratings was higher than the sensitivity. Conclusions Overall inter-rater agreement between experts was fair to good and experts' ratings were reasonably accurate. Results of this study indicate that expert assessment can be used to derive information on historical pesticide use, which is essential for epidemiological studies evaluating the effect of (past) environmental exposure to pesticides on health.

KW - weighted kappa exposure agreement reliability validity Public, Environmental & Occupational Health

U2 - 10.1136/oemed-2014-102189

DO - 10.1136/oemed-2014-102189

M3 - Article

SN - 1351-0711

VL - 71

SP - 717

EP - 722

JO - Occupational and Environmental Medicine

JF - Occupational and Environmental Medicine

IS - 10

ER -