Exposure to Captan in Fruit Growing

Abstract

This study characterized occupational exposure to pesticides in fruit growing in The Netherlands to assess determinants of exposure. Large-scale exposure surveys were carried out during application of pesticides and during reentry activities. Data on contamination inside the fruit growers' homes were obtained, and total potential exposure for the fruit grower and his family during the growing and harvesting season was estimated. Repeated measurements on the same subject were collected to study components of exposure variability. Relative contribution of the respiratory route and different skin sites to total exposure were assessed. Captan was used as a marker for exposure. Inhalable dust exposure was measured with a personal monitor and potential dermal exposure with skin pads and hand rinsing. Dislodgeable foliar residue was measured by taking leaf punches. For respiratory exposure and potential dermal exposure, differences were observed between several tasks. Workers were categorized according to tasks performed depending on the exposure measure(s) (e.g., hands, forehead, inhalable dust) considered relevant for a specific study purpose. In general, within-worker variability of all exposure measurements was larger than between-worker variability. Variability in dermal exposure on the same body location was small relative to variability between different body locations. Differences in total exposure, including exposure inside the home, between the fruit grower and the son were small. Exposure of the wife was two to three times lower than for the fruit grower and the son. As exposure per unit of time was in the same order of magnitude for different tasks, individual time spent on these tasks is crucial for estimating total potential exposure. Repeated measurements are necessary to estimate individual exposure accurately because of the large within-worker variability.

A Detailed Urinary Excretion Time Course Study of Captan and Folpet Biomarkers in Workers for the Estimation of Dose, Main Route-of-Entry and Most Appropriate Sampling and Analysis Strategies

“…However, exposure during spraying was of shorter duration and less frequent, and workers were more protected ( Table 1). The same observations were reported in studies assessing captan exposure through spot measurements (Winterlin et al, 1986;Krieger, 1995;de Cock et al, 1998b;Tielemans et al, 1999;Geer et al, 2004).…”

“…1 and 2), even though half-life of captan on leaf surfaces was estimated to be between 2.5 and 24 days (Frank et al, 1983;Winterlin et al, 1984;Stamper et al, 1987;el-Zemaity, 1988;Alary et al, 1995;Cabras et al, 1997Cabras et al, , 2000de Cock et al, 1998b;Tielemans et al, 1999;Phalen and Que Hee, 2003;US EPA, 2004). For folpet, however, results of the current study do not exclude the possibility that workers could be also exposed by oral or inhalation routes.…”

Urinary and hand wipe pesticide levels among farmers and nonfarmers in Iowa

“…Several studies have investigated farmer pesticide exposure by measuring dermal exposure to pesticides (Hussain et al, 1990;Calumpang, 1996;de Cock et al, 1998;Stewart et al, 1999a and b;Krieger and Dinoff, 2000). Several studies have also employed biological monitoring of pesticide exposure among commercial and greenhouse pesticide applicators, pest control operators and agricultural workers (Sanderson et al, 1995;Denovan et al, 2000;Hines and Deddens, 2001;Tuomainen et al, 2002;Hines et al, 2003;Coronado et al, 2004).…”

Use of patches and whole body sampling for the assessment of dermal exposure

“…Patches used for measuring exposure to pesticides typically have dimensions of approximately 10×10 cm, though smaller patches have been used (Fenske et al, 1990;de Cock et al, 1998). Patches used for other substances have tended to be smaller.…”