Plant residues, paraquat exposure

Residues on gloves and plastic boots were used as surrogates to measure herbicide transfer from treated plants. No human exposure occurred since harvesters wore protective clothing. The model was paraquat... 

ELISA could potentially be used advantageously in many types of exposure and monitoring situations, for paraquat and other pesticides amenable to ELISA analysis. An obvious use of ELISA is the detection of pesticide residue levels in plant and animal tissues, or food extracts. Biological specimens such as plasma and urine currently analyzed by RIA seem particularly amenable to analysis by ELISA. Portable field kits could be developed to determine safe worker re-entry times into treated fields. Environmental samples such as soil, water, and air, can be analyzed by the ELISA. Pesticide conjugates have been proposed for skin testing of individuals suspected of sensitivity to pesticides (fi.) the ELISA could be used to detect specific antibodies in these individuals and aid in exposure studies. 

The decision to use paraquat on Cannabis to control illegal marihuana production in the United States and Mexico provides another route of human exposure. This exposure results from residues accumulated at harvest, immediately after, and at subsequent times, following a spray application. This occurs when the grower attempts to salvage treated Cannabis plants after an authorized spray operation is conducted to destroy the crop. The herbicide s rapid desiccation renders the treated Cannabis unusable as a harvestable... 

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