Exposure to Fungicides in Fruit Growing: Re-Entry Time as a Predictor for Dermal Exposure

Abstract

As part of a European Concerted Action on Male Reproduction Capability an exposure assessment survey was conducted among seasonal workers in the fruit growing sector in the Netherlands. Dermal exposure to the fungicides captan and tolylfluanid was measured using cotton gloves (12 persons) and skin pads on several body parts (12 persons). In addition, a set of exposure data was used from a study conducted recently among Dutch fruit growers. For harvesting activities, re-entry time appeared to be an important determinant of dermal exposure to captan and tolyfluanid. Explained variance of regression models was moderate to high (range 0.30-0.87). For captan, calculated half-life times from the most recent exposure survey were lower (glove data: 5 days; pad data: 6 days) compared with half-life times based on the previously conducted study (11 days). Possible explanations for the discrepancy are discussed. For tolylfluanid, estimated half-life times during harvesting were 2 and 3 days, based on pad and glove data, respectively. Prediction of captan exposure during other crop activities appeared to be far more difficult (explained variance equal to 0.06), although the estimated half-life time was comparable with that for harvesting. The data suggest that re-entry time gives useful information to group workers in broad exposure categories. Nonetheless, it was concluded that large studies are needed to evaluate the importance of re-entry time in more detail.

Time to first pregnancy among women working in agricultural production

“…Further exploration of the role of strategies intended to minimize the use of pesticides (Crisostomo and Molina 2002) and guarantee the fulfillment of the minimum re-entry intervals (Brouwer et al 1992a, b;Tielemans et al 1999) to greenhouses, as ways of reducing reproductive risks for agricultural workers, is also suggested, even though improvement in the working conditions, in the last few years, at these enterprises has to be recognized. Work in flower production provides an important source of employment and resources for women in developing countries.…”

Dermal exposure to chemicals in the workplace: just how important is skin absorption?

“…Workers in market gardens and greenhouses can experience high dermal exposures during application or ''harvest'' or ''re-entry'' processes where handling of vegetation coated with pesticide residues takes place. 2 Pesticides are also used in industrial and domestic settings to prevent plant growth or remove insects or fungi. Infants and children playing in environments treated with pesticides have been the subject of recent dermal exposure research.…”

Occupational exposure to pesticides and endotoxin and Parkinson disease in the Netherlands

“…The exposure algorithm was adapted from an existing algorithm for applicator exposure 18. We added re-entry work to the model, because exposures during re-entry work can be substantial,4 5 and the majority (57%) of the participants who had worked at farms where pesticides were applied did not personally perform applications but did potentially perform tasks that included re-entry work. We found ORs in the same range as with the JEM approach, showing the robustness of our results.…”

“…The number of applications per year at a farm was imputed for participants who did not know if pesticides were applied at a job or at what frequency, based on the most frequently reported answer by other participants for similar jobs. Although the number of days a pesticide is present on the crops after application depends on pesticide type, crop type and weather conditions, we assumed a period of 14 days based on data in the literature 5 22. Furthermore, we estimated that workers who worked 40 h/week at farms with horticultural or fruit crops performed 5 days/week re-entry work (ISCO68 job codes: 61230, 62320, 61270, 62720, 62730) and workers at farms with field crops 1 day/week (ISCO68 job codes: 61110, 62105, 61220, 62210).…”

“…Exposure occurs during the actual application of pesticides, but also during contact with crops treated with pesticides when carrying out so-called re-entry activities such as weeding or thinning. Exposure from re-entry work could be substantial depending on the crop 4 5…”