Development of Personal Protective Clothing for Reducing Exposure to Insecticides in Pesticide Applicators

Abstract

Wearing appropriate personal protective equipment during the application of pesticides is one method of reducing dermal exposure to pesticides. Thus, the aim of this research is to develop personal protective clothing (PPC) coated with gum rosin and investigate the efficiency of its level of protection against chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin. Comparison of the protection efficiency of each PPC with Tychem® C coveralls was also investigated. Five commercially available cotton fabrics were chosen for tailoring the PPC, and then, the PPC was coated with a gum rosin finish to provide water repellence. The efficiency of the level of protection of the gum rosin-coated PPC against insecticides was tested in a laboratory (closed chamber). The remarkable findings were that the % protection efficiencies for all the PPC, with the exception of one, were not significantly different to those for Tychem® C coveralls. The protection efficiencies ranged from 99.85% to 99.97% against chlorpyrifos and 99.11% to 99.89% against cypermethrin. Therefore, our results suggest that gum rosin-coated clothing provided satisfactory levels of protection against insecticides and could be considered as suitable protective clothing for pesticide applicators. Choice of an appropriate fabric for coating with gum rosin also needs to be considered. A further study in field conditions is warranted to confirm the protection efficiency in a working environment.

Efficiency of Gum Rosin-Coated Personal Protective Clothing to Protect against Chlorpyrifos Exposure in Applicators

“…The findings revealed that the uncoated gum resin denim had a protective efficiency of 60.8% and the gum rosin-coated denim had a protective efficiency of 93.6%. In addition, the study by Naksata et al [ 17 ] developed gum rosin-coated PPC with five different types of fabric and investigated the efficiency of protection against chlorpyrifos in a laboratory (a closed chamber) according to the ASTM F1359/F1359M-16a (procedure A). The results found that the protective efficiency ranged from 99.8% to 99.9%, and gum rosin-coated denim had the highest protective efficiency.…”

“…The repellency index ranged from 92.6% for isopropanol to 99.7% for 10% sodium hydroxide. Gum rosin-coated PPC was developed by Naksata et al [ 17 ]. Denim cotton fabric was chosen to be coated with gum rosin solution because it provided the best level of pesticide protection in a preliminary laboratory test.…”

“…PPC coated with gum rosin was developed by Naksata et al [ 17 ]. Denim cotton fabric was coated with gum rosin solution to provide water repellent properties and the protective efficiency against chlorpyrifos was investigated in a laboratory (a closed chamber).…”

Risk-Reduction Research in Occupational Safety and Ergonomics: An Editorial

“…The third paper reported an exploratory study addressing the exposure to pesticide of agricultural workers in Thailand [ 3 ]. According to the study authors, many workers apply insecticides without chemical protective clothing due to the cost of the full-suit personal protective equipment that meets international standards.…”

Evaluation of the Knowledge and Attitude of Using Personal Protective Equipment among Rubber Farmers in Southern Thailand

“…The level of protection in rubber plantation provided by a specific PPE item depends on the farmers' jobs. Some studies concerning several PPE materials and designs lend further support to the effectiveness of PPE, although some of these studies also indicated variations due to fabrics and clothing design [1], [4], [13]. Hearing protector use such as earmuffs is the best to reduce noise exposure above 95dBA in lumber mills [8].…”