Breaking the take home pesticide exposure pathway for agricultural families: workplace predictors of residential contamination

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fenske RA ; Galvin K ; Lu C ; Negrete M
• Description:
  Background: Pesticides used in agriculture can be taken into worker homes and pose a potential risk for children and other family members. This study focused on identification of potential intervention points at the workplace. Methods: Workers (N=46) recruited from two tree fruit orchards in Washington State were administered a 63-item pesticide safety questionnaire. Dust was collected from commuter vehicles and worker homes and analyzed for four organophosphorus (OP) pesticides (azinphosmethyl, phosmet, chlorpyrifos, malathion). Results: Geometric mean azinphosmethyl concentrations in dust for three worker groups (16 pesticide handlers, 15 green fruit thinners, 15 organic orchard workers) ranged from 0.027-1.5 microg/g, with levels in vehicle dust higher than in house dust, and levels in house dust from handlers' homes higher than levels from tree fruit thinners' homes. Vehicle and house dust concentrations of azinphosmethyl were highly associated [R(2) = 0.44, P < 0.001]. Significant differences were found across worker groups for availability of laundry facilities, work boot storage, frequency of hand washing, commuter vehicle use, parking location, and safety training. Conclusions These findings support a focus on intervention activities to reduce take home pesticide exposure closer to the source of contamination; specifically, the workplace and vehicles used to travel to the workplace. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Dust Environmental Exposure Family Farmers Insecticides Occupational Health Safety Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Agricultural-workers Applicators Author Keywords: Pesticides Children Dust Dust-analysis Dust-exposure Dust-particles Dust-sampling Environmental-exposure Families Health-surveys Organophosphorus-pesticides Para-occupational Pesticide Handlers Pesticides-and-agricultural-chemicals Questionnaires Residential Exposure Take-home Toxins Take Home Exposure Thinners Vehicle Workers Workplace

  More +
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  56
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043111
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2013 Sep; 56(9):1063-1071
• Contact Point Address:
  Richard Fenske, PhD, MPH, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Box 357234, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA 98195
• CAS Registry Number:
  Azinphos-methyl (CAS RN 86-50-0) ; Chlorpyrifos (CAS RN 2921-88-2) ; Malathion (CAS RN 121-75-5) ; Phosmet (CAS RN 732-11-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0859191447c6bbafb30dc057402321a6f7e3ebfa06d071c85aece32b6c012c24c15fd6ed7d2ba8a34321f78d63aeeb43c361901502c4168104841c5fc0d86c53
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195122/cdc_195122_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 329.31 KB ]