Agricultural Handlers Exposure Database

While there are no plans for improvements of the platform for the PHED model, some of its features are highly acclaimed, since a representative subset, possibly large enough, to cover the basic needs for the required extrapolation may be selected from the database. This can now be done by computer for EUROPOEM. On the other hand, the quality assessment of the studies from which exposure data are taken is much more science-based in EUROPOEM than for the PHED, where selection only depends on the analytical quality. This latter deficiency should be rectified in the new Agricultural Handlers Exposure Database (AHED) described earlier. 

Pesticides Handlers Exposure Database (PHED) software, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Health and Welfare Canada, National Agricultural Chemicals Association (U.S.) software originally issued February 1992 with subsequent upgrades. 

Generally speaking, the equipment that workers use and the type of agricultural work performed while handling pesticides or pesticide-treated commodities have a major impact on the level of exposure a worker receives. Neat work habits generally lead to lower exposure for agricultural workers who handle pesticides. The current Pesticide Handlers Exposure Database (PHED), which is used to predict exposure to mixers/loaders/applicators, is based on this concept. 

Dr. Day was a founding member of the Pesticide Handlers Exposure Database (PHED) Task Force, and was instrumental in the development of the database, which is now widely used in the field of pesticide worker exposure. In 1994, he was a key player in the formation of the Agricultural Worker Re-entry Task Force (ARTF) and the Outdoor Residential Exposure Task Force (ORETF), and he served as chairman of the ARTF Technical Committee from its inception in 1994 until his retirement from DowElanco. Dr. Day also served as his company s representative on the Residue Technical Committee of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) from 1989 to 1996. He continues to serve as a consultant to the agrochemical industry. 

Leighton, T.M. and A.P. Nielsen (1995). The United States Environmental Protection Agency, Health Canada and National Agricultural Chemicals Association pesticide handlers exposure database, Appl. Occup. Environ. Hyg., 10, 270-273. 

Based on the patch method to assess worker or re-entry exposure, researchers have developed a database, which may be used to estimate exposure. Each patch from an individual in a study can be entered into the database separately, the residue data from patches from various body areas can be summed to yield a whole-body exposure number, and the data may be sorted as to worker tasks, equipment used, protective clothing worn, formulation types and other parameters. This is the basis for the currently used Pesticide Handlers Data Base (PHED), which was developed through a joint effort in the 1980s of CropLife America [formerly known as American Crop Protection Association (ACPA) and National Agricultural Chemicals Association (NACA)], the Environmental Protection Agency (ERA) and Health Canada. " The PHED is discussed in detail in another article in this book. 

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