Evaluation of New Technologies to Reduce Drift and Pesticide-Related Illness Among Tree Fruit Orchard Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fenske RA ; Galvin K ; Kasner EJ ; Pouzou JG ; Yost MG
• Description:
  The airblast sprayer has been a standard tool for tree fruit pesticide application technology since its rapid and wide scale adoption in the 1950s. Present-day orchard management practices have greatly altered tree architecture. As a result, traditional airblast sprayer output no longer matches modern canopies and thereby increases drift potential. A pilot study was designed to identify methods that compare the ability of different spray technologies to minimize worker exposure to pesticide drift. Three spray trials tested whether postharvest foliar application of micronutrient tracers-zinc (Zn), molybdenum (Mo), and copper (Cu)-could be collected on a grid of 111 passive sampling targets and later recovered in a sensitive mass spectrometry procedure. Target matrices made of low-density-polyethylene (LDPE) plastic, chromatography filter paper, and pipe cleaners were placed at regular intervals in horizontal and vertical planes near an orchard block that was sprayed with labelrecommended concentrations of Zn (895 ug/ml), Mo (21.3 ug/ml), and Cu (880 ug/ml). Geometric mean depositions of Zn on LDPE and filter paper (186 and 169 ng/cm2, respectively) were larger than those for Mo (2.7 and 2.0 ng/cm2). Coiled wire cores of pipe cleaners interfered with metals analysis and Cu was not easily extracted from filter paper. Average wind speed at the time of application ranged from 2.7 to 3.7 m/s. Horizontal deposition profiles for Zn and Mo indicated a negative correlation between mass recovered and downwind distance of target from the orchard (Adjusted R2: 0.66-0.83). Vertical deposition profiles generally decreased with sampling height and distance from the orchard. The ratio of mass recovered to the limit of quantification for Zn (LDPE: 71, filter paper: 20) and Mo (LDPE: 35, filter paper: 66) demonstrated that it is possible to increase sampling distance. Future comparative studies will include additional sprayers, active air sampling methods, and cascade impactors. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Air Pollutants, Occupational Environmental Monitoring Environmental Pollution Insecticides Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Industry Air Air Contamination Air Monitoring Author Keywords: Pesticides Environmental Contamination Occupational Pesticides And Agricultural Chemicals Sampling Methods Spraying Operations Trace Substances

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• Publisher:
  International Society of Exposure Science
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20053353
• Citation:
  25th Annual Conference of the International Society of Exposure Science (ISES 2015), October 18-21, 2015, Henderson, Nevada. Herndon, VA: International Society of Exposure Science, 2015 Oct; :222
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  25th Annual Conference of the International Society of Exposure Science (ISES 2015), October 18-21, 2015, Henderson, Nevada
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f57e7df731c31bbb9d91839d11da4ac5828e41b9e4101b570f85a5fb6bdbafb3ee404c2a20cd26c76a83a6cb85d32bd9c1ab69db346d546c7930779d56fc616d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216130/cdc_216130_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 277.22 KB ]