# Best Practices to Return Results About Pesticide Exposures in Family Child Care Homes

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2024 · $388,694

## Abstract

Abstract
The goal of this study is to develop best practices for returning results to family child care home (FCCH)
directors about pesticides present in their facilities. Best practices will be defined as activities that
maximize comprehension of key knowledge and catalyze action to measurably reduce children’s exposure to
agricultural and household-use pesticides, thus limiting potentially harmful exposures at an important stage of
development. A mixed methods study will be conducted in four Central Valley counties in California in three
phases. In Phase 1, multi-stakeholder working groups including local FCCH directors, child care, health and
environmental organizations will meet with study staff to discuss ethical issues about reporting back results on
pesticides detected in FCCHs using a bioethical environmental justice framework. Qualitative methods will
identify common themes to inform the process of reporting back results with the Digital Exposure Report-Back
Interface (DERBI) and understanding the barriers and facilitators. In Phase 2, a convenience sample of 30
FCCHs serving ethnically diverse young children in marginalized Central Valley communities will be recruited
and participate in a 12-month integrated pest management (IPM) intervention, with carpet dust sampled and
assessed for pesticides at baseline and 12 months later. FCCH directors will attend educational workshops,
receive environmental assessments, and have regular consultations with study staff focused on IPM goals they
have set. Three months post-baseline, FCCH directors will receive access to their pesticide results via the
DERBI, including enhancements or modifications resulting from Phase 1 work. Immediately and over the next
9 months, FCCH directors will be interviewed to explore their reactions to and understanding of results,
intention to change pest management strategies in response to their report, and plans to share results with
families and their community. Throughout Phase 2, researchers will consider the impact of having returned
results via DERBI, including barriers to or facilitators of impactful action and unintended consequences of
returning results. Upon completion of post-intervention pesticide exposure assessment, Phase 3 of the study
will begin. In Phase 3, the FCCH directors and local stakeholders will reconvene along with statewide
stakeholders to discuss the quantitative and qualitative results of the IPM intervention, to identify best practices
in reporting back pesticide results to FCCH directors, and to write a policy brief. The study aims are: (1) to
develop a process for reporting back pesticides detected in FCCHs to program directors by collaborating with
key local stakeholders, (2) to determine how an IPM intervention in FCCHs that includes reporting back
pesticides using DERBI a) influences directors’ understanding of pesticides, IPM practices, intentions to act on
and share their results, and b) whether the intervention subsequently, reduce...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10869232
- **Project number:** 1R01ES036261-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Abbey Diane Alkon
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $388,694
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-07-01 → 2028-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10869232

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10869232, Best Practices to Return Results About Pesticide Exposures in Family Child Care Homes (1R01ES036261-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10869232. Licensed CC0.

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