The test site

Preparation of a site for field residue testing should follow the same procedures as for standard agricultural production for the crop in question. If a pesticide is intended to introduce new agronomic or horticultural practices, then these practices should be 

Using land that has been in standard crop production helps to ensure a successful trial. A few site selection choices that could easily complicate the successful conduct of a trial are  

The PI must be judicious in the selection of the test site in order to maximize the chance of a successful trial and in meeting the study objectives. 

3 Test site information (soil, water, weather, slope, wind, history) 

The type of field residue study being conducted will determine the amount of test site information required and the rigor required to obtain this information. 

---

Adjustment may also be required for differences in altitude between the test site and the commercial installation. In general terms, if the plant elevation is higher, the vacuum pump size must be increased, and conversely. 

Before taking the sample train to the test site, it is wise to prepare the operating curves for the particular job. With most factory-assembled trains, these curves are a part of the package. If a sampling train is assembled from components, the curves must be developed. The type of curves will vary from source to source and from train to train. Examples of useful operating curves include (1) velocity versus velocity pressure at various temperatures (6), (2) probe tip velocity versus flowmeter readings at various temperatures, and (3) flowmeter calibration curves of flow versus pressure drop. It is much easier to take an operaHng point from a previously prepared curve than to take out a calculator and pad to make the calculahons at the... 

For many reasons, it may be ineonvenient to take the speetrum analyzer to the field eaeh time an analysis is to be made. Often, several maehines are to be analyzed at various loeations. Also, a hostile environment may exist at the test site, whieh might result in damage to the analyzer. A way of over-eoming these problems is offered by data taping. With a tape, a permanent reeord is made. Sinee eaeh ehannel of the tape offers a plaee for data to be stored, this reeord may be a eondensation of several inputs either from different transdueers or from the same transdueer at various loeations. A eontinuous tape monitor is very benefieial. In the event of maehine failure, an analysis of the playbaek will help diagnose the problem. 

Barometric pressure should be measured at the test site at 30-minute intervals during the test. 

Measure and monitor. Installation at the test sites will be closely monitored against an established timetable, as well as in terms of our established PSM criteria and goals. Throughout this process, we will solicit feedback and other commentary from the pilot sites for incorporation into ongoing process improvement. 

We have selected the Manwood plant as the test site, in consultation with Facility Manager Ray Leonard, who will play a key role in overseeing the installation. All Manwood employees will participate, either directly or indirectly, and we will actively solicit their feedback about the system based on their experience with it. 

You will greatly enhance the effectiveness of any communications medium if you are able to incorporate favorable anecdotes from participants in the pilot test. First-person accounts of positive experience lend considerable credibility, and you may wish to consider recruiting the test-site facility manager (or other personnel) to assist the team. 

Egg-beater shaped vertical axis wind turbine (VA A/T) at the test site at Sandia Laboratories. (U.S. Department of Energy)... 

A comprehensive table of corrosion rates in sea water has been compiled by LaQue . This appears to show no obvious dependence of corrosion rates on the geographical location of the testing site, and few of the rates depart widely from an average of 0-11 mm/y. It is suggested that a figure of 0-13 mm/y may be taken as a reasonable estimate of the expected rate of corrosion of steel or iron continuously immersed in sea water under natural conditions, in any part of the world. 

As a further example of the ineffectiveness of low-alloy additions in slowing down rusting under sheltered conditions, tests by BISRA in indoor atmospheres failed to reveal any substantial difference in the rusting of a chromium-copper steel and of an ordinary mild steel in most of them . The test sites covered a wide range of domestic and industrial conditions, from bathrooms to locomotive sheds. 

The test site should be typical of the type of soil to be investigated. 

Soil burial is widely used as the method of testing susceptibility to degradation. It closely mimics the conditions of waste disposal used for plastics but it is often difficult to reproduce results obtained because of absence of control over either the climate at the test site or the variety of micro-organisms involved in the degradation. Soil burial is thus used to provide qualitative indications of biodegradability, with more controlled laboratory work with cultured micro-organisms being used to obtain more quantitative detail. 

The names of test materials and plot numbers of the test sites are entered on the plastic bags that will contain the test materials. 

Pesticides used on crops grown on the test site in previous seasons may also have an impact on the outcome of a field residue trial. Carryover of prior pesticide applications could contaminate samples in a new trial, complicate the growth of the crop in a trial, or cause interference with procedures in the analytical laboratory. For this reason, an accurate history of what has transpired at the potential test site must be obtained before the trial is actually installed. The protocol should identify any chemicals of concern. If questions arise when the history is obtained, they should be reviewed with the Study Director prior to proceeding with the test site. In most annual crop trials, this will not be a significant issue owing to crop rotations in the normal production practices, because the use of short residual pesticides and different chemical classes is often required for each respective crop in the rotation. However, in many perennial crops (tree, vines, alfalfa, etc.) and monoculture row crops (cotton, sugarcane, etc.), the crop pesticide history will play a significant role in trial site selection. 

Weather data at the test site, especially during the course of the study, should be provided for the Principal Investigator if available. Historical weather data are important to compare the current climate with previous years to establish that the current year s weather is not unusual or atypical. 

Plot maintenance B Expertise must be available to maintain the test site and, if cropped, to take care of the crop For bare-soil studies, the soil surface must be carefully prepared prior to test substance application and kept weed-free without disturbing the test areas. If the test is cropped, the crop should be treated according to Good Agricultural Practice. In case of a soil accumulation study, the field may be cultivated and cropped each season for up to 6 years... 

Ownership A Access to test site must be guaranteed for the duration of study Owner must agree to grant access to the site for duration of study plus possible time extensions. As a result, sub-leasing of the test site is not preferred. This criterion is extremely important for long-term studies such as field soil accumulation studies... 

Weather station/ weather data requirements A On-site weather station is preferred and may be mandatory for certain studies. Minimally, a station must be located within 10 km of test site In certain cases, a weather station located within 10 km of the test site may be sufficient. If water balances are to be determined, an on-site weather station is necessary to measure, at a minimum, precipitation, solar radiation, wind speed, relative humidity, and air temperature... 

Ideally, when small mammals are being evaluated, the treated area beyond the test site should be large enough that any recruitment of study species to the test site will be from a treated area. It is not possible to cover this recruitment area for most bird species and it is often impractical for small rodents, but should be considered. Owing to abundance, home range and recruitment dynamics, small passerines and small rodents are often selected as test species. 

An accurate and complete history of pesticide use for the test site, including material applied, rate and date of application (if possible), for 3 years prior to study initiation, and also during the study, should be documented. 

Calibration of field equipment at the test site and field laboratory... 

The test substance may be acquired in a number of ways. One common method is to purchase the product from a chemical dealer. This method of acquiring the test substance for a worker exposure or re-entry study allows one to proceed rapidly with the execution of the field portion of the study without the serious delays encountered while waiting for a test substance to be manufactured, assayed, and shipped to the site. Although having a test substance formulation which has been assayed under GLP standards and for which a certificate of analysis has been shipped to the test site is desirable, there are several instances when this is not practical. For example, one may encounter a worker exposure study where the pesticide to be evaluated is sold only in mini-bulk or even large bulk quantities holding as much as 2000 gal. In this case, duplicate 5-10-g or 5-10-mL retainer samples should be taken from the bulk or mini-bulk tanks for assay after the worker exposure study is in progress. 

The receipt of the test substance should be documented upon arrival at the test site. The name of the product, manufacturer, active ingredient concentration, expiration date, storage location, storage requirements, lot or batch number, the amount received, the condition at receipt, and whether the material is an emulsifiable concentrate (EC), fiowable, powder or otherwise should be noted in the research notebook. In addition, one should note the purchase date, the shipment date, and the carrier of the product. 

The test substance should be stored in a locked facility at or near the test site. Most pesticide products are manufactured to withstand extreme temperatures, therefore most test substances used for re-entry and worker exposure studies may be stored under ambient conditions. One should read the label of the product carefully to discern if there are any extraordinary storage conditions required for the pesticide product. Temperatures at the test substance storage location should be monitored daily using a max/min thermometer or similar device that can record daily fluctuations of temperatures. 

Finally, at this meeting, the volunteers should be instructed on when and where to go to the test site or field laboratory in order to start the study and should be reminded to bathe or shower on the morning of the test prior to attending the test site. 

The study participants (volunteers) should arrive at the field laboratory well before the daily work activities are to commence. The study participants should be directed to sit near the dressing area on a seat covered with a fresh plastic bag or tarp. The volunteers are usually instructed not to move from their seats or wander off around the test site. Control of the movements of the study participant is crucial at this point since the worker could encounter contamination and acquire some extraneous exposure not planned for the study. 

At this time, the volunteer exits the dressing room and is provided with a clean air monitoring pump which is hooked to the belt or outer dosimeter of the volunteer. The volunteer is now ready to move to the test site. If multiple volunteers are to be prepped and dressed, volunteers who are ready to go to the field site are set back in the chairs to wait for all volunteers to be dressed. 

Care should be taken to have plastic sheeting available to cover the tables if sudden rain occurs. Alternatively, the tables with the matrices may be moved under the cover of a shed in the case of rain. Some would argue that the matrices should be left in the rain to mimic the exact conditions of the test site however, generally, the workers wearing the test dosimeters will not work in the rain or the researcher may decide to bring the workers out of the rain in order to have more control of the interpretation of the results of the study at a later time. Generally, more experienced researchers will opt for removing the held fortifications and workers from a rainy situation. 

Control field matrices are usually placed at the field site upwind and at a significant distance from the spray or re-entry area so as to avoid all obvious routes of contamination at the test site that may destroy the integrity of the control samples. However, the control matrices should not be placed so far away from the test site as to avoid any suspected contamination that might occur from drift or other sources of contamination. One may want to define better the conditions at the test site in order to interpret better the exposure data collected from the volunteers matrices. 

Taking blood samples from volunteers is relatively easy, once they have given their consent, compared with taking urine samples. Usually, the volunteers are transported by a member of the field scientific team to a clinic near the test site where the blood samples are withdrawn and preserved by a trained certified professional nurse or doctor. The samples can then be preserved and sent to the clinical laboratory or analytical laboratory by the clinic or by the field research team. 

---