An evaluation of the Potential Dermal Exposure of workers to endosulfan and procymidone at the mix/load and application stages was done in small floricultural production units in Argentina. Seven experiments were performed with different operators under typical greenhouse conditions, based on the whole body dosimetry methodology. These results indicate that the mean Potential Dermal Exposure of the application step was 45.0 ± 55.0 mL h(-1) with the highest proportion on torso, head, arms and hands. When the mix/load and application stages were compared, the first was found to contribute the most to the total exposure. Also, the Margin of Safety for the different operations was calculated, and a pesticide surrogate was developed and used to make comparative evaluations of hand exposure for different groups of operators. These results emphasize the importance of the mix/load stage in the exposure process.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of procymidone application in periurban horticultural greenhouses, especially on workers (applicators and assistants) and soil and plastic mulching, when mechanically pressurized application systems were employed. The mean Potential Dermal Exposure (PDE) was measured using the Whole Body Dosimetry technique. The PDE for the applicators was 188 mL h À1 AE 103 mL h À1 , and 14.7 mL h À1 AE 6.3 mL h À1 for the assistants. In the first case, the most exposed body sections were the upper right and left (46.8 mL h À1 AE 23.4 mL h À1 ; 47.0 mL h À1 AE 23.5 mL h À1 ) and lower (20.8 mL h À1 AE 10.4 mL h À1 ; 17.3 mL h À1 AE 8.7 mL h À1 ) legs, while in the case of assistants, hands and legs were the most impacted limbs. Regarding the Margin of Safety (MOS) during the mix and load stage, two of three pesticide preparations resulted unsafe, while for the applicators, six of six spraying operations were unsafe. For the assistants, five of five operations were safe, but three of them were close to the safety limit.Procymidone distribution between drift (0.03% AE 0.07 %), applicator (0.20% AE 0.15 %), polyethylene mulching (8.5% AE 4.5 %) and soil (3.0% AE 1.1 %) was determined with respect to the total pesticide applied. Procymidone soil impact was also evaluated using Eisenia andrei behavioral tests, finding positive correlations between procymidone application and avoidance and reproduction tests.
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