Greenhouse workers, pesticide exposure

In many of these occupational cases, the dermal route of exposure may predominate/ In one report, it was found that when greenhouse workers wore long-sleeved shirts, approximately 6% of the pesticide reached the skin, compared with 38% for workers wearing short sleeves/... 

Brouwer, R., H. Marquart, G. De Mik and J.J. Van Hemmen (1992). Risk Assessment of Dermal Exposure of Greenhouse Workers to Pesticides After Re-Entry, Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol, 23, 273-280. 

Methner, M.M. and R.A. Fenske (1994a). Pesticide Exposure During Greenhouse Applications, Part I. Dermal Exposure Reduction Due to Directional Ventilation and Worker Training, Appl Occup. Environ. Hyg., 9, 560-566. 

Hernandez,A., Gomez, M.A., Pena, G., Gil, F., Rodrigo, L., Villanueva, E., andPla,A., Effect of long-term exposure to pesticides on plasma esterases from plastic greenhouse workers, J. Toxicol. Environ. Health Part A, 67 1095-1108,2004. 

Waldron, A.C. (1985). The potential for applicator-worker exposure to pesticides in greenhouse operations, in Dermal Exposure Related to Pesticide Use, R.C. Honeycutt, G. Zweig and N.N. Ragsdale (Eds), ACS Symposium Series 273, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 311-319. 

Bazylewicz-Walczak, B., Majczakowa, W. and Szymczak, M. 1999. Behavioral effects of occupational exposure to organophosphate pesticides in female greenhouse planting workers. Neurotoxicology, 20 819-826. 

Otto DA, Soliman S, Svendsgaard D, et al Neurobehavioral assessment of workers exposed to organophosphorus pesticides, in Advances in Neurobehavioral Toxicol-ogy Applications in Environmental and Occupational Health. Edited by Johnson BL. Chelsea, MI, Lewis Publishers, 1990, pp 305-322 Parron T, Hernandez AF, Pla A, et al Clinical and biochemical changes in greenhouse sprayers chronically exposed to pesticides. Hum Exp Toxicol 15 957-963,1996a Parron T, Hernandez AF, Villanueva E Increased risk of suicide with exposure to pesticides in an intensive agricultural area a 12-year retrospective study. Forensic Sci Int 79 53-63,1996b... 

The Potential for Applicator-Worker Exposure to Pesticides in Greenhouse Operations... 

It could thus be concluded that LV applications will result in greater worker exposure to the pesticide. Rowever, the opposite may be true and LV applications could be less hazardous because they are generally made in the evening, require a relatively short period of time with no workers present, the applicator moves away from the pesticide application and out of the area and the greenhouse Is usually vented In the morning before anyone enters. The additional data to separate actual worker exposure from potential exposure should be a valuable contribution to the study. 

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