Long vs. short monitoring intervals for peach harvesters exposed to foliar azinphos-methyl residues.

A dermal monitoring study of peach harvesters exposed to azinphos-methyl (AM) residues was conducted in Sutter County, California. Harvesters were paid by piecework, which allowed characterization of the relationship between dermal exposure (DE) and time or production. Workers wore 2 long-sleeved knit T-shirts for each monitoring interval and also provided a hand residue sample. Dislodgeable foliar residue (DFR) samples were also collected. The highest correlations were found for inner shirts vs. production and DE vs. time worked (r2 = 0.67, P < 0.01). DE was greatest after 2-h exposures and reached equilibrium after 3 h, indicating that exposure estimates from shorter intervals would overestimate exposure.

Chlorothalonil exposure of workers on mechanical tomato harvesters.

Worker exposure to chlorothalonil (tetrachloroisophthalonitrile, Bravo during mechanical tomato harvester operations of fruit for processing was estimated from passive dermal dosimetry monitoring (gauze pad and undershirt dosimetry), air concentration measurements and hand washes. Gauze pad dosimeters placed outside of workers' clothing gave an average potential dermal exposure of 499.6 micrograms/h. Dermal exposure based on undershirt dosimetry averaged 43.4 micrograms/h. Air concentrations ranged from 0.002-0.02 microgram/l. Dislodgeable fruit residues were measured and used to develop transfer factors (cm2 h) for both the pad dosimetry (450) and shirt dosimetry (40). Study results indicate that normal work clothing provides a 90% reduction in dermal exposure to chlorothalonil and that contribution of inhalation to total exposure ranges from 8.1-28%.