Urinary excretion of tetrahydrophtalimide in fruit growers with dermal exposure to captan

Abstract

The relation between dermal and respiratory exposure and uptake into the body of captan, measured as 24 hr cumulative tetrahydrophtalimide (THPI) dose, was studied among 14 male fruit growers applying pesticides in orchards in the Netherlands. No contribution of respiratory exposure was observed on THPI in the urine. Dermal exposure, measured with skin pads, showed a clear relation with THPI in urine when exposure was estimated from exposure on skin pads of ankles and neck. No relation was found for total dermal exposure, calculated from measured exposure on skin pads of representative skin areas according to models described in the literature. Determinants of exposure such as use of a cabin on the tractor, use of gloves during mixing and loading, and use of rubber boots also explained THPI in urine very well. This finding corroborated the findings on measured dermal exposure. Results indicate that more attention should be paid to skin areas which are suspected to be most permeable for a chemical under study. It was concluded that dermal exposure data can be linked better to biological monitoring based on empirical findings as gathered in a pilot study on exposure of specific body areas than on estimations of total skin dose.

Experts' subjective assessment of pesticide exposure in fruit growing

“…The experts were able to rank total dermal exposure and exposure of the wrists. Data from a study on the urinary excretion of tetrahydrophtalilnide (THPI) among fruit growers exposed to captan (20) showed the importance of dermal exposure. It was shown, however, that the highest exposed skin areas are not necessarily the most important areas for uptake.…”

Dermal exposure assessment in occupational epidemiologic research

“…When these body locations are likely to be significantly exposed, the differences in their absorption rates should be taken into account. An example of such a situation can be found in a study by de Cock et al (87), who studied fruit growers applying pesticides. In this study an association was found between tetrahydrophthalimide in urine and captan exposure on the neck, but not with the total dermal exposure.…”

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

“…5) are in line with those previously reported and showing that dermal absorption is the primary route-of-entry for both mixers/loaders/applicators and re-entry workers in contact with pesticides (Gunther et al, 1977;Ritcey et al, 1987;Thongsinthusak et al, 1999;Ross et al, 2001;Geer et al, 2004). In particular, de Cock et al (1995) and Hansen et al (1978) found that respiratory exposure route to captan was minor compared to dermal absorption.…”

“…However, external exposure measurements are known to present limitations and to lead to overestimations of true absorbed doses. The best means of accurately assessing worker exposure to such type of compound is recognized to be through biological monitoring since it allows estimating actual rather than potential absorption by workers and integrating exposure by all routes (He, 1993;Woollen, 1993;de Cock et al, 1995).…”

“…Some field studies have attempted to associate environmental measurements with biomonitoring data to assess captan exposure (Hansen et al, 1978;Winterlin et al, 1984;Winterlin et al, 1986;Maddy et al, 1989;Lavy et al, 1993;de Cock et al, 1995;Krieger and Dinoff, 2000;Hines et al, 2008), but poor correlations were obtained. These studies, as well as those of van Welie et al (1991) and of Verberk et al (1990) which used only biomonitoring, assessed worker exposure for a maximum three consecutive days, with incomplete collections; typical tasks involving potential exposure to captan (e.g.…”