Herbicide exposure during occupational knapsack spraying in French gardeners and municipal workers
Mathilde Boulanger, Lucie de Graaf, Romain Pons, Valérie Bouchart, Mathilde Bureau, Yannick Lecluse, Matthieu Meryet-Figuiere, Séverine Tual, Isabelle Baldi, Pierre Lebailly- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Abstract
Context
There is a lack of data on pesticide exposure levels during spraying with a knapsack, while it could have important implications for their users’ health.
Methods
We assessed levels and determinants of exposure in 24 male private landscapers/gardeners and municipal workers in France in 2011. Actual dermal exposure to glyphosate was assessed with cotton undergarments and gloves, and a cotton coverall changed between mixing and spraying to assess the contribution of each phase and body area to overall contamination. A field monitor observed the whole workshift and filled in a standardized observation grid.
Results
The median actual contamination was 5,256 µg for the body, and 4,620 µg for hands. Spraying was more exposing than mixing/loading for all body parts except hands, which contributed to nearly 90% of body exposure during mixing/loading, and 30% during spraying, followed by back (14%). In the most exposed quartile, levels were close to some observations in agriculture.
Conclusion
Our study provides new data on pesticide exposure levels of knapsack sprayer users; it should lead to a reinforced prevention, in order to make exposures as low as possible and lessen the risk of chronic diseases.