The potential exposures of 127 preschool children to the pyrethroid insecticides, cis- and trans-permethrin, in their everyday environments were examined. Participants were recruited randomly from 127 homes and 16 daycare centers in six Ohio (OH) counties. Monitoring was performed over a 48-h period at the children's homes and/or daycare centers. Samples collected included soil, carpet dust, indoor air, outdoor air, diet, hand wipes, surface wipes, transferable residues, and urine. The environmental samples were analyzed for the cis and trans isomers of permethrin, and the urine samples were analyzed for the pyrethroid urinary metabolite, 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA), by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The isomers were detected most often in the dust (100%) and hand wipe (>78%) samples collected at both homes and daycare centers. The median levels of cis-permethrin (470 and 1010 ng/g) were higher than the median levels of trans-permethrin (344 and 544 ng/g) in the dust samples at both the children's homes and daycare centers, respectively. In the children's hand wipe samples, the median levels of cis- and trans-permethrin were similar, ranging from 0.03 to 0.04 ng/cm(2), at both locations. The urinary metabolite 3-PBA was detected in 67% of the children's urine samples. The median urinary 3-PBA concentration for the children was 0.3 ng/mL, and the maximum value for one child was 33.8 ng/mL. The primary route of the children's exposure to the combined isomers was through dietary ingestion, followed by indirect ingestion. In addition, our calculated aggregate absorbed doses of permethrin accounted for about 60% of the excreted amounts of 3-PBA found in the children's urine. In conclusion, these children were potentially exposed to low levels of permethrin from several sources, and through several pathways and routes.