Community-based intervention to reduce pesticide exposure to farmworkers and potential take-home exposure to their families.
The US EPA Worker Protection Standard requires pesticide safety training for farmworkers. Combined with re-entry intervals, these regulations are designed to reduce pesticide exposure. Little research has been conducted on whether additional steps may reduce farmworker exposure and the potential for take-home exposure to their families. We conducted an intervention with 44 strawberry harvesters (15 control and 29 intervention group members) to determine whether education, encouragement of handwashing, and the use of gloves and removable coveralls reduced exposure. Post-intervention, we collected foliage and urine samples, as well as hand rinse, lower-leg skin patch, and clothing patch samples. Post-intervention loading of malathion on hands was lower among workers who wore gloves compared to those who did not (median=8.2 vs. 777.2 microg per pair, respectively (P<0.001)); similarly, median MDA levels in urine were lower among workers who wore gloves (45.3 vs. 131.2 microg/g creatinine, P<0.05). Malathion was detected on clothing (median=0.13 microg/cm(2)), but not on skin. Workers who ate strawberries had higher malathion dicarboxylic acid levels in urine (median=114.5 vs. 39.4 microg/g creatinine, P<0.01). These findings suggest that wearing gloves reduces pesticide exposure to workers contacting strawberry foliage containing dislodgeable residues. Additionally, wearing gloves and removing work clothes before returning home could reduce transport of pesticides to worker homes. Behavioral interventions are needed to reduce consumption of strawberries in the field.
Bradman
Asa
A
Center for Children's Environmental Health Research, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-7380, USA. abradman@socrates.berkeley.edu
Salvatore
Alicia L
AL
Boeniger
Mark
M
Castorina
Rosemary
R
Snyder
John
J
Barr
Dana B
DB
Jewell
Nicholas P
NP
Kavanagh-Baird
Geri
G
Striley
Cynthia
C
Eskenazi
Brenda
B
D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000032:analysis*; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D005192:Family Health; D031985:Fragaria; D006235:Hand Disinfection; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008294:Malathion / Q000032:analysis; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016272:Occupational Health; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis*; D011481:Protective Clothing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors
D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D010575:Pesticides; D008294:Malathion