High-Throughput Suspect Screening Reveals Widespread Pesticide Exposure in Early Childhood

Characterization of the human exposome, the totality of exposure, provides unprecedented insights into the role of broad environmental factors in human diseases. Environmental exposures during development periods are increasingly recognized as key determinants of long-term health outcomes, yet full-scale characterization of early life exposure remains largely underexplored. In the present study, we established a nontarget data acquisition for target analysis-based suspect screening workflow capable of screening over 1000 pesticides in a 14 min run. It was next applied to the analysis of 438 urine samples collected from 187 children to comprehensively assess their pesticide exposure landscapes. A total of 215 pesticide residues were identified, with 51 detected in at least 20% of the samples. On average, 31 pesticides were identified per child, with individual exposures ranging from 21 to 50 compounds. Significant associations were observed for detection frequencies between child age, sex, and gestational age at birth and substantial pesticide co-occurrence patterns, suggesting potential coexposure risks. In total, this study constructs a high-throughput suspect screening pipeline and reveals widespread pesticide exposure in a vulnerable subpopulation, representing significant advancements toward characterizing, deciphering, and prioritizing the human exposome.