Exposure to Pesticides How personnel are exposed to pesticides and what to do about it – safety equipment and common sense

Exposure to Pesticides: Common Routes  Dermal – Skin Hands Arms Face & Head Eyes  Oral – mouth & gasterointestinal tract  Inhalation – nose & lungs  For humans – dermal is the most significant route of exposure

Exposure to Pesticides: Common Routes  Safety equipment is available to minimize dermal exposures Face shields or goggles, eyewash bottles Hard hats Long sleeved shirts, long pants & waterproofed boots Tyvek coveralls Nitrile gloves Soap and water

Exposure to Pesticides: Common Routes  Safety equipment is also available to minimize inhalation exposures Face masks Nasal filters Gas masks  Generally are not necessary  Fumigation projects or enclosed spaces may require this form of protection

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies So, what does this mean in the field?? Forest Service R8 contracted with the Georgia Tech Research Institute, Environmental Health and Safety Division to perform field dermal exposure studies

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies  Three studies conducted North Georgia – directed foliar application of Garlon 4 North Georgia – Clayton; and South Carolina – Savannah River Plant site & Edgefield RD – Directed foliar application of Roundup Kentucky – London, Somerset & Stearns RD – Streamline basal bark application of Garlon 4

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies Location of test patches and air sampler on body and clothes of volunteers in the studies – all volunteers had the same sample patch locations

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies

Bypass details

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies  Three studies conducted North Georgia – Clayton; and South Carolina – Savannah River Plant site & Edgefield RD – Directed foliar application of Roundup North Georgia – directed foliar application of Garlon 4 * Kentucky – London, Somerset & Stearns RD – Streamline basal bark application of Garlon 4 *

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies  North Georgia, foliar Garlon 4, Site 1 – 2 – 3’ brush and herbaceous undergrowth Mixing – Nurse tank Solo backpack with wand, 2503 tips 5 diaphragm and 1 piston pump Rubber gloves to mix, leather gloves worn during application

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies  North Georgia, foliar Garlon 4, Site 2 4 – 8’ brush with intermediate undergrowth Mixing – each backpack Solo backpack, Model 30 Gun jet, 2503 tip All diaphragm pumps Return

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies  Kentucky – Streamline Garlon 4 – London 2 – 3’ brush, low density Mixing – 5 gal nurse tank Solo backpack, Model 30 Gunjet, DE2 tips 1 diaphragm & 3 piston pumps 4/4 wore leather gloves when applying

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies  Kentucky – Streamline Garlon 4 – Somerset 6’ brush, density greater than London Mixing – 5 gal nurse tank Solo backpack, Model 30 Gunjet, DE2 tips All (6) diaphragm pumps Only 1 of 6 wore (leather) gloves during application 4 hours worked

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies  Kentucky – Streamline Garlon 4 – Stearns ’ brush, density similar to Somerset Mixing – 5 gal nurse tank Solo backpack, Model 30 Gunjet, DE2 tips All (6) diaphragm pumps 4 of 6 wore gloves when applying Return

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies  Clayton, Georgia Site; foliar Roundup 2-3’ tall, low-density brush Mixture in nurse tank Mixer wore Playtex latex gloves Solo backpack sprayers, Gunjet with 2503 tip 2/5 wore leather gloves during application; 3/5 no gloves

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies  Aiken, South Carolina; foliar Roundup 4 - 6’ tall brush Mixture in nurse tank Mixer wore latex gloves Solo backpack sprayers, Gunjet with 2503 tip 4/5 latex gloves, 1/5 leather gloves

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies  Edgefield, South Carolina; foliar Roundup 4 - 6’ tall brush Mixture in nurse tank Mixer wore neoprene gloves Solo backpack sprayers with wand, 2503 tip 5/5 wore cotton work gloves

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies  Triclopyr results similar to projections from the VMFEIS Streamline basal bark Garlon 4-- geometric mean MOS from study – 262 (predicted 880) Directed foliar spray Garlon 4-- geometric mean MOS of 153 (predicted 290)  Glyphosate results nowhere near the projected - but better than predicted Directed foliar spray of Roundup– geometric mean of 155,204 (predicted 600)

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies  However Garlon 4 MOSs ran from 44 to 3515 with 2 of the 16 applicators having MOSs of <100 (44 & 53) Garlon 3A MOSs ran from 23 to 845 with 5 applicators of the 22 having MOSs of <100 (18, 23, 26, 47, 65, & 83) Roundup MOSs ran from 20,980 to 128,841

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies  So, as the triclopyr products show Individual performance in the field, and Individual sensitivity Led to some individuals receiving unacceptably high doses of pesticide during application  Reasons for the high doses are unclear

Exposure to Pesticides: R-8 Exposure Studies