Assessment of penconazole exposure in winegrowers using urinary biomarkers

Abstract

Penconazole (PEN) is a fungicide used in agriculture. The aim of this work was to evaluate the exposure to PEN in vineyard workers focusing on urinary biomarkers. Twenty-two agricultural workers were involved in the study; they were investigated during PEN applications and re-entry work, performed for 1-4 consecutive working days, for a total of 42 mixing and applications and 12 re-entries. Potential and actual dermal exposure, including hand exposure, were measured using pads and hand washes. Urine samples were collected starting before the first application, continuing during the work shift, and ending 48 hours after the last shift. The determination of PEN in dermal samples and PEN metabolites in urine was performed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Dermal potential body exposure and actual total exposure showed median levels ranging from 18 to 3356 and from 21 to 111 µg, respectively. Urinary monohydroxyl-derivative PEN-OH was the most abundant metabolite; its excretion rate peaked within 24 h after the work shift. In this period, median concentrations of PEN-OH and the carboxyl-derivative PEN-COOH ranged from 15.6 to 27.6 µg/L and from 2.5 to 10.2 µg/L, respectively. The concentration of PEN-OH during the work shift, in the 24 h after and in the 25-48 h after the work shift were correlated with actual body and total dermal exposure (Pearson's r from 0.279 to 0.562). Our results suggest that PEN-OH in the 24 h post-exposure urine is a promising candidate for biomonitoring PEN exposure in agricultural workers. AbstractPenconazole (PEN) is a fungicide used in agriculture. The aim of this work was to evaluate the exposure to PEN in vineyard workers focusing on urinary biomarkers.Twenty-two agricultural workers were involved in the study; they were investigated during PEN applications and re-entry work, performed for 1-4 consecutive working days, for a total of 42 mixing and applications and 12 re-entries. Potential and actual dermal exposure, including hand exposure, were measured using pads and hand washes. Urine samples were collected starting before the first application, continuing during the work shift, and ending 48 hours after the last shift. The determination of PEN in dermal samples and PEN metabolites in urine was performed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.Dermal potential body exposure and actual total exposure showed median levels ranging from 18 to 3356 and from 21 to 111 µg, respectively. Urinary monohydroxyl-derivative PEN-OH was the most abundant metabolite; its excretion rate peaked within 24 h after the work shift. In this period, median concentrations of PEN-OH and the carboxyl-derivative PEN-COOH ranged from 15.6 to 27.6 µg/L and from 2.5 to 10.2 µg/L, respectively. The concentration of PEN-OH during the work shift, in the 24 h after and in the 25-48 h after the work shift were correlated with actual body and total dermal exposure (Pearson's r from 0.279 to 0.562).Our results suggest that PEN-OH in the 24 h post-exposure urine is a promising candidate for bio...

Methods for the Identification of Outliers and Their Influence on Exposure Assessment in Agricultural Pesticide Applicators: A Proposed Approach and Validation Using Biological Monitoring

“…The correlation between our workers’ skin exposure estimates and post-exposure metabolite urine levels was 0.45 (see Table 6). The values of correlation coefficients, between 0.3 and 0.5, were found in previous studies that used environmental monitoring together with biological monitoring in tebuconazole and penconazole exposed workers [8,9,10]. In the present study, the use of any outlier detection method resulted in an increase in the correlation coefficient, which underlines the effectiveness of outlier detection.…”

“…The “whole-body” and “patch” approaches, falling under “surrogate skin methods”, represent the backbone of skin exposure assessment [6]. They have been described in detail in official guidelines [7] and extensively used in field studies [8,9,10,11]. The main disadvantage of the whole body approach is that it changes the regular working routine of the worker by imposing an additional layer of protection to the worker, which renders the study experimental as opposed to “real-life”.…”

Salinity Alters Toxicity of Commonly Used Pesticides in a Model Euryhaline Fish Species (Menidia beryllina)

“…It is a hepatotoxicant, with a reported environmental half-live of around two years, making it extremely persistent in the environment [35]. Penconazole and triadimefon are azole fungicides that cause cardiotoxicity across taxa and are found in surface and groundwater through runoff and spray drift [36,37].…”

Impacts of Penconazole and Its Enantiomers Exposure on Gut Microbiota and Metabolic Profiles in Mice

“…Previous studies have shown that the levels of dermal body exposure of penconazole were 21–111 μg for 22 winegrowers. Two penconazole metabolites were detected in the urine of winegrowers at concentrations of 15.6–27.6 and 2.5–10.2 μg/L, respectively . In addition, penconazole has been shown to accumulate in human hair during the agricultural season .…”

“…Two penconazole metabolites were detected in the urine of winegrowers at concentrations of 15.6−27.6 and 2.5−10.2 μg/ L, respectively. 23 In addition, penconazole has been shown to accumulate in human hair during the agricultural season. 24 The adverse effects of penconazole on organisms has been reported.…”