EXPOSURE TO PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS DURING AND AFTER APPLICATION IN

ORNAMENTAL GREENHOUSES

NELSON AMBUEH PANGSI

PROMOTER Prof. Dr. ir. Pieter Spanoghe

Presentation outline

Introduction Materials and methods

Sampling location and crop type Studied products and pesticides (active substances) Sampling methods, experimental set up and analysis Risk assessment

Results and discussion Conclusion

Introduction Importance of plant protection products

• To kill or prevent pest, diseases and weeds

• To ensure effective plant growth and high yields

Problems of plant protection products

• Presents a potential health risk to the operators, workers

and bystanders

• A potential risk to the environment

Introduction Problems of plant protection products

• Human exposure to plant protection products

• Operator

• Worker

• Bystander

Operator Workers Bystanders

Introduction

General objective To study the exposure of workers and operators to plant

protection products during and after application in

ornamental greenhouses

Introduction

Specific objectives Determine the quantity of pesticides operators and

workers are exposed to

OPERATOR: Study the distribution of exposure on

the body of operators

WORKER : Identification of the re-entry activities of

workers having high and low rate of pesticide

exposure

Materials and methods

Sampling location and crop type Materials for the study was from an ornamental greenhouse pot

plant grower in East-Flanders.

Some ornamentals grown are: Clivias, Orchids and Azaleas

Clivias Orchid Azalea

Materials and methods

Study products and active substances imidacloprid (Warrant 200 SL)

deltamethrin ( Decis EC 2.5)

A combination of fluazinam and metalaxyl-m (Epok 600 EC)

Material and methods Sampling methods and experimental set up

Dermal exposure WORKERS and OPERATORS

Whole body dosimeter for the body and gloves for the hands

Coverall (DuPont Tyvex model CHF5) and gloves

OPERATORS activities

Mixing/loading

Application

deltamethrin and imidacloprid

Figure 1 Coverall sections for PDE (Flores et al., 2011)

Materials and methods Sampling methods and experimental set up

WORKERS activities considered includes;

Sorting and cleaning of plants treated with imidacloprid and

fluazinam

Transferring plants treated with imidacloprid

Selecting plants treated with fluazinam

Potting plants treated with fluazinam and imidacloprid into soil

Sampling of gloves, leaves (from clivia) and soil materials

Sampling duration: 2 hours

Materials and methods Chemical analysis

Analysis was made by GC-MS for all materials on deltamethrin

and fluazinam

Analysis was made by HPLC for all materials on imidacloprid

Materials and methods Risk assessment The amount of the pesticides in the different materials analyzed

were used to calculate the potential dermal exposure (PDE),

DFR, soil residue, Transfer Coefficient. PDE = DFR x TC x T

DFR = AR/LAI

Soil Residue = Amount (µg)/ mass of soil measured (mg)

Transfer Coefficient = PDE/DFR

Materials and methods Risk assessment From the calculated potential dermal exposure (PDE), the

absorbed doses and risk indices were calculated as well. Absorbed dose 10%

Risk Index

RI = analysed human exposure / toxicity normation (AOEL)

If RI ≥1 problem

If RI < 1 no problem

Results and discussion

Figure 2. Distribution of operator dermal exposure for deltamethrin (9 trial )

Lower legs and hands having high exposure

The arms and head having low exposure

right hand (gloves)

Left hand (gloves)

lower leg left

lower leg right

Upper leg left

Upper leg right

upper arm left

upper arm right

lower arm left

lower arm right

head

torso front

torso back

- 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00 100.00 120.00 140.00 160.00

51.05

97.78

116.14

141.28

28.53

8.17

9.45

2.27

2.18

2.34

4.05

41.49

21.96

PDE (µg/h)

Bod

y Pa

rts

OPERATOR exposure – deltamethrin glasshouse 9 trial

Results and discussion

Figure 3. Distribution of operator dermal exposure for imidacloprid (12 trial )

The hands, lower right leg, upper left leg , and upper right leg having high exposure

The torsos, head , lower left leg and right arm having low exposure

right hand (gloves)

Left hand (gloves)

lower leg left

lower leg right

Upper leg left

Upper leg right

upper arm left

upper arm right

lower arm left

lower arm right

head

torso front

torso back

- 100.00 200.00 300.00 400.00 500.00 600.00 700.00

580.50

223.89

0.08

98.55

161.08

119.32

71.94

13.36

38.06

0.08

0.08

2.06

0.08

PDE (µg/h)

Bod

y Pa

rts

OPERATOR exposure – imidacloprid glasshouse 12 trial

Results and discussion

Figure 4. Distribution of operator dermal exposure for imidacloprid (trial 21 )

The hands and legs having the high exposure

The torsos, head , upper and lower arms having low exposure

right hand (gloves)

Left hand (gloves)

lower leg left

lower leg right

Upper leg left

Upper leg right

upper arm left

upper arm right

lower arm left

lower arm right

head

torso front

torso back

-

200.0

0

400.0

0

600.0

0

800.0

0

1,00

0.00

1,20

0.00

1,40

0.00

1,60

0.00

1,80

0.00

1,562.15

645.27

645.27

316.44

50.58

69.18

6.05

10.24

4.80

39.91

8.65

0.08

1.18

PDE (µg/h)

Bod

y Pa

rts

OPERATOR exposure – imidacloprid glasshouse 21 trial

Results and discussion

Operators activities Absorbed dose (10 %) Risk index (RI)

Mixing/loading and application of deltamethrin glasshouse 9 trial

7.52E-05 1.00E-02

Mixing/loading and application of imidacloprid glasshouse 12 trial

1.87E-04 2.34E-03

Mixing/loading and application of imidacloprid glasshouse 21 trial

4.80E-04 5.99E-03

Operators activities and absorbed dose

AOEL imidacloprid = 0.08 mg/kgBW/day, deltamethrin = 0.0075 mg/kgBw/day

Results and discussionWorkers activities PDE(µg/h) DFR (µg/cm2 ) TC (cm2 /h) SR (µg/mg)

Sorting and cleaning plants treated with imidacloprid and fluazinam

1 (Imidacloprid) 9.23 2.96E-03 3118.24

2 (fluazinam) 3.51 4.60E-02 76.30

3 (fluazinam) 3.77 6.98E-03 540.11

Transferring plant treated with imidacloprid

1 24.85 0.03 828.33

2 7.48 0.03 249.33

3 50.80 0.06 846.67

Selecting plant treated with fluazinam

1 1.14 0.05 22.8

Potting plants treated with fluazinam

1 1.14 0.63 0.005

2 3.51 1.95 0.005

3 3.77 3.48 0.003

Potting plants treated with imidacloprid

1 0.23 0.63 0.001

2 0.70 1.95 0.001

3 1.26 3.48 0.001

Workers activities and absorbed dosesWorkers activities Absorbed dose (10 %) Risk index (RI)

Sorting and cleaning plants treated with imidacloprid and fluazinam

(AOEL fluazinam = 0.004 mg/kg BW/day)( AOEL imidacloprid = 0.08 mg/kg BW/day)

1 (Imidacloprid) 1.05E-05 1.31E-04

2 (fluazinam) 4.01E-06 1.00E-03

3 (fluazinam) 4.31E-06 1.08E-03

Transferring plant treated with imidacloprid

1 2.84E-05 3.55E-04

2 8.55E-06 1.06E-04

3 5.81E-05 7.26E-04

Selecting plant treated with fluazinam

1 1.30E-06 3.25E-04

Potting plants treated with fluazinam

1 1.30E-06 3.25E-04

2 4.01E-06 1.00E-03

3 4.31E-06 1.08E-03

Potting plants treated with imidacloprid

1 2.63E-10 3.29E-09

2 8.00E-10 1.00E-08

3 1.44E-09 1.80E-08

Conclusions Hands and legs are the most exposed during spraying

Transferring plants in pots caused the highest exposure

Exposure of the hands with the treated leaves (DFR) ends up in

a higher amount compared to the hands touching the soil (SR).

Absorbed doses (internal exposure) for both the workers and

operators were less than the AOEL of the different PPP applied

THANKS FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION