Evaluation of Exposures to Pesticides and Parasitic Vectors During Inspection of Imported Aquatic Plants

Details

• Personal Author:
  Aristeguieta, Carlos ; Durgam, Srinivas
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In January 2008, NIOSH received an HHE request from a management representative of the USDA APHIS in Riverdale, Maryland. The requestor was concerned about potential hazards from aquatic plant inspections conducted at PPQ stations throughout the United States. No health effects among APHIS employees were listed in the request. The APHIS PPQ station in Los Angeles, California, was chosen for evaluating exposure risks resulting from disease-carrying insects and pesticides because it has a high volume and frequency of imported aquatic plant shipments. On September 29 - October 3, 2008, we made a site visit to the APHIS PPQ station in Los Angeles, California. We met with management and employee representatives and observed work processes, practices, and workplace conditions. We collected PBZ air samples and surface wipe samples to evaluate pesticide exposures. We talked to employees about their work and related symptoms. We reviewed APHIS wipe sampling records, the OSHA Form 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses for 2005-2008, and other pertinent records. We did not detect the 20 pesticides we analyzed for in the air or on surface wipe samples. No work-related symptoms among APHIS PPQ inspectors were reported. Our findings indicated that respiratory protection is not needed during routine inspection of imported plants. The written respiratory protection program required respirators for specific tasks such as welding and fumigation. However, the program lacked guidance for worksite-specific procedures such as the chemical dip process, and employees were uncertain about when respirators were needed. Employees used disposable gloves when conducting plant inspections and knew the potential hazards from disease-carrying insects found in aquatic plant shipments. We found a potential risk of contracting a parasitic or bacterial infection from splashes with contaminated water when inspecting aquatic plants. We recommend revising the written respiratory protection program to provide worksite-specific guidance including the type of respirator needed and job tasks that require respirator use. Employees should continue to wear disposable gloves, clear face shields along with safety glasses, and long sleeve garments such as lab coats to further minimize the potential for inadvertent exposure to pesticides and disease-carrying insects. Employees should also continue to use newspapers or other absorbent pads to absorb residual contaminated water when inspecting imported aquatic plants.
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Dust Insecticides Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural-chemicals Agricultural-industry Aquatic Plants OSHA Region 9 Personal-protection Personal-protective-equipment Pesticides Pesticides-and-agricultural-chemicals Plant Inspection PPE Protective-clothing Protective-equipment Protective-measures Regulation Of Agricultural Marketing And Commodities Snails

  More +
• Source:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 2008-0070-3112, 2010 Jul ; :1-19
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA200800703112
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  28 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Evans, Stefanie M. ; Galloway, Ellen ; Smith, Robin
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037066
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2010-112496
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2010]. Health hazard evaluation report: evaluation of exposures to ; pesticides and parasitic vectors during inspection of imported aquatic plants, Los ; Angeles, CA. By Durgam S, Aristeguieta C. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of ; Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National ; Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH HETA No. 2008-0070-3112,
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  926140 - Regulation of Agricultural Marketing and Commodities - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:883c02a5be7c9a9854dafd10e824ebea4083c0c625148b379d68a4b0fc4d6c442e017c887096a92b53a0da31eddcc46c594b75b5b1d033777870691d62afb3cb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172528/cdc_172528_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.60 MB ]