Details:

Alternative Title:
Am J Ind Med
Personal Author:
Fenske, Richard A. ; Lu, Chensheng ; Negrete, Maria ; Galvin, Kit
Fenske, Richard A. ; Lu, Chensheng ; Negrete, Maria ; Galvin, Kit Less -
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 μg/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 (R2 = 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. Am. J. Ind. Med. 56:1063–1071, 2013.


Subject:
[+]
Adolescent
Adult
Agriculture
Applicators
Article
Automobiles
Azinphosmethyl
Chlorpyrifos
Cross-Sectional Studies
Dust
Environmental Exposure
Environmental Monitoring
Geographic Information Systems
Housing
Humans
Linear Models
Malathion
Male
Occupational Exposure
Organothiophosphates
Para-occupational
Pesticide Handlers
Pesticide Residues
Pesticides
Phosmet
Residential Exposure
Safety
Surveys And Questionnaires
Take Home Exposure
Thinners
Vehicle
Workers
Workplace
Young Adult
Dust

Source:
Am J Ind Med. 56(9):1063-1071.
Pubmed ID:
23853121
Pubmed Central ID:
PMC5976442
Document Type:
Journal Article
Funding:
U50 OH007544/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States ; 2 U50 OH07544/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States
U50 OH007544/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States ; 2 U50 OH07544/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States Less -
Place as Subject:
Washington
Collection(s):
CDC Public Access
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:5a6109a5f6401a82e99943b1e3e4298f3bdf5ae84ab17671e24819f07b487b79
File Type:

Supporting Files

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