Occupational Exposure of Forest Workers to Glyphosate During Brush Saw Spraying Work

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to measure forest workers' exposure to the herbicide glyphosate during silvicultural clearing work done with brush saws equipped with pressurized herbicide sprayers. Both the exposed (study) group and the nonexposed (control) group contained five persons who were medically examined before and after their 1-week working period (including laboratory tests) for possible health effects. In addition, exposure to glyphosate was measured in the study group from samples taken from the workers' breathing zone and from urine samples collected during the afternoons of the workweek. The laboratory tests and urinary glyphosate analyses were repeated for the exposed group 3 weeks later, when the men had entirely stopped their work with the herbicide. Exposure to glyphosate through the workers' breathing zone was low. The highest value found was 15.7 micrograms/m3. In this study, a biological monitoring method was also developed to monitor the workers' exposure to glyphosate. Urine concentrations were under the gas chromatographic detection level of less than 0.1 ng/microL (less than 1.0 mumol/L). No major differences were noted, either in medical examinations or in the laboratory tests performed, between the exposed and control groups before and after the work period.

Occurrence and fate of the herbicide glyphosate and its degradate aminomethylphosphonic acid in the atmosphere

“…However, very little work has been done on the atmospheric transport of glyphosate. In one study, it was reported that air concentrations of glyphosate were below 15.7 mg/m 3 during silvicultural spraying periods [29]. Thus, the occurrence and behavior of atmospheric glyphosate are still largely unknown even though glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world [15,30].…”

Evaluación de los efectos del glifosato y otros plaguicidas en la salud humana en zonas objeto del programa de erradicación de cultivos ilícitos

“…El 45,0% (51) de la población estudiada se encontraba afiliada al régimen contributivo del Sistema General de Seguridad Social en Salud, el 36,0% (40) no tenía ninguna afiliación, el 18,0% (20) correspondía al régimen subsidiado y sólo un 1,0% (1) refirió ser atendido en salud de manera particular. Se encontró una población joven que en el 50,0% (56) no había terminado la educación primaria y sólo el 25,0% (28) la había completado; hubo porcentajes muy bajos de educación secundaria: el 2,6% (3) no la terminó y el 4,5% (5) era bachiller; tan sólo el 1,8% (2) tenía una educación universitaria.…”

“…El 25,9% (29) de los individuos incluidos en el estudio informaron que en el momento de la exposición se hallaban realizando actividades propias del hogar, el 20,5% (23) en actividades recreativas, el 17,0% (19) cultivando, el 11,6% (13) en el trabajo habitual, el 7,1% (8) caminando por la zona asperjada y el 17,9% (20) restante realizando diferentes labores.…”

“…Por ejemplo, en estudios de laboratorio con varios organismos, se encontró que el Roundup® incrementó la frecuencia de mutaciones letales recesivas ligadas al sexo en la mosca de la fruta. También, se ha reportado daño al ADN en pruebas de laboratorio con tejidos y órganos de ratón (20)(21)(22) En el estudio se observaron y midieron retrospectivamente los posibles efectos sobre la salud humana atribuibles a la exposición al glifosato y los posibles efectos por exposición a otros plaguicidas empleados para cultivar coca. Se encontró que los problemas de salud observados en los municipios objeto del estudio tuvieron una tasa de prevalencia similares a las encontradas en los reportes epidemiológicos de los años previos al inicio de las aspersiones.…”

Glyphosate Exposure in a Farmer’s Family

“…Two periods of glyphosate excretion were evidenced after one handling. A first peak 5 h after exposure could be explained by a rapid inhalatory or oral route [6] followed by elimination of detectable compounds. The second detectable increase, 24 h later, could be linked to dermal absorption [7] of a small part of the pesticide applied.…”