Estimating worker exposure for pesticide registration.
For the registration procedures of pesticides, the level of exposure during the various activities in which pesticides are handled has to be estimated. Different worker exposure models have been put forward in Europe and North America. These models are discussed and compared to each other for their output in terms of estimated levels of potential inhalation and dermal exposure. It is concluded that the output varies with the model, largely for two reasons. First, the underlying databases are completely different, which is inherent to locally different equipment and farm sizes. Second, the statistic used in the estimation of a level of exposure from a database varies from a geometric mean to the 90-percentile. The estimated levels of exposure may be used in a first step of the risk assessment. It is recommended that the relevant parts of all four models be considered to increase the representativity of the predicted level of exposure.
van Hemmen
J J
JJ
Department of Occupational Toxicology, TNO Medical Biological Laboratory, Rijswijk, The Netherlands.
D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010575:Pesticides
D010575:Pesticides