Farmer Exposure to Organic Solvents During the Maintenance and Repair of Farm Machinery: A Pilot Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bunn TL ; Lee K ; Liu Y ; Robertson M ; Yu L
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: The maintenance/repair of farm machinery is a common farming activity. Dermal exposure to organic solvents has not been well documented. A pilot study was conducted to characterize exposure to organic solvents. METHODS: A survey questionnaire was administered to 31 Kentucky farmers in 2008. Dermal exposure assessment was conducted in 10 farmers while farmers performed farm machinery maintenance/repair tasks using a solvent sampling patch. Benzene, toluene, xylene, and n-hexane were analyzed. RESULTS: All four organic solvents were identified from the samples with toluene (<0.5-36,000 microg/patch) and xylene (15-5,700 microg/patch) at significantly higher levels. Twenty-six farmers reported the use of personal protective equipment <50% of their time repairing/maintaining farm machinery on the questionnaire; only two farmers wore gloves during the exposure assessment. CONCLUSIONS: Farmers routinely use solvent products for farm machinery maintenance/repair. Dermal exposure to organic solvents is a potential hazard. Further studies to characterize and evaluate exposure in larger samples of farmers are needed. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Agriculture
  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Farmers
  • Manufacturing and Industrial Facilities
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
  • Solvents
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  • Agricultural-industry
  • Agricultural-machinery
  • Agricultural-processes
  • Agricultural-workers
  • Exposure-assessment
  • Exposure-levels
  • Exposure-methods
  • Farmers
  • Machine-operation
  • Organic-solvents
  More +
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  52
• Issue:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20036579
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2009 Dec; 52(12):973-981
• Contact Point Address:
  Terry L. Bunn, Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, Waller Ave., Lexington, KY 40504
• Email:
  tlbunn2@uky.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  • Benzene (CAS RN 71-43-2)
  • Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3)
  • Xylene (CAS RN 1330-20-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• Performing Organization:
  University of Kentucky
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20260630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/187945/cdc_187945_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 129.09 KB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:67a4292b470a433e677d3baa8be6f0d0fd2dce7ed837c437d2b0d442dc74e6430bd71c7172ada518dab1cc5760999fee03475d626527ccbb29041a55d9809cd2