Page 11 - Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2010

Tsakirakis

et al.

10

same two protection coverall types were

used in order to collect more data for their

performance in high exposure scenarios,

where it was anticipated that a significant

difference between these two types could

be apparent.

With the above considerations, the scope

and the objectives of the present study were:

a) the determination of the operator expo-

sure levels using the newly introduced Novi-

F tool, b) the comparison of the present trial

results with the respective results from pre-

vious work using conventional spray gun

application, and c) the evaluation of cover-

all performance for the two different cover-

all types. For the aims of this study the SC

formulation of iprodione (Rovral 50 SC) was

used, which could provide surrogate data

for risk assessments with similar use scenar-

ios.

Materials and Methods

The operator exposure measurements were

carried out with the whole body dosime-

try method according to the OECD Guid-

ance Document (7). Ten applications were

carried out in greenhouse-grown pepper

in Crete following good agricultural practic-

es. The application parameters are given in

Table 1. The spraying application technique

involved the use of a four-nozzle, T-shaped

hand-held spraying equipment similar to a

lance, called Novi-F. The potential dermal

exposure (PDE), the actual dermal exposure

(ADE) and the hand-, head- and inhalation

exposure of operators were determined.

The fungicide used was a SC formulation

(Rovral 50 SC) containing 50% w/v iprodi-

one as active substance (a.s.).

Dermal exposure, both potential and ac-

tual, was measured with two different types

of outer coveralls as dosimeters (five appli-

cations per type). The inner coveralls and

the rest of the personal protective equip-

ment were of the same type in all ten appli-

cations. Both types of the protective cover-

alls used were made of woven, permeable

fabrics that had shown satisfactory results

in laboratory permeability tests with the pi-

pette test (ISO 22608:2004). The first cov-

erall tested (Type A), was made of 50/50%,

cotton/polyester (Twill, 215 g/m

2

Hydro-

foil®) treated with a water repellent finish

attached at the nano (sub-micron) level to

the fibres. The second coverall (Type B) was

made of 100% cotton (twill, 287g/m

2

). None

of the operators were involved in mixing

and loading of the formulation or in any oth-

er activities in the field. The operators were

asked to follow their normal routine and ap-

plication practices.

Field Part

Before each application, the operators

were dressed in the inner and outer whole

body dosimeters, which were worn for the

duration of the monitoring period. The in-

ner dosimeters consisted of a long sleeved

shirt and a pair of long johns (100% cotton).

The active substance (a.s.) deposited in/on

the inner clothing represents the actual der-

mal exposure for the upper body (shirt) and

lower body (long pants). The residues of the

a.s. retained by each part (jacket and trou-

sers) of the outer coverall were also deter-

mined. The actual head exposure was esti-

mated from the residue of the a.s. detected

on baseball cap, using an extrapolation fac-

tor of 2 to account for the whole head sur-

face. Nitrile gloves were worn over inner cot-

ton gloves by all operators as dosimeters for

hand exposure. Actual hand exposure corre-

sponded to the amount of the a.s. found on

the inner gloves, while potential exposure

for the hands was estimated from the total

amount of the a.s. found on both inner and

outer gloves. The footwear was assumed to

provide complete protection; therefore, ex-

posure was not monitored or estimated for

this area.

Personal air sampling pumps with XAD-

2 filter tubes were used to monitor inhala-

tion exposure. The XAD-2 filter tubes were

placed in the breathing zone of the opera-

tors and the airflow was calibrated at 2.0 l/

min. Inhalation exposure values were de-

rived from the residues found on XAD-2

tubes multiplied by a factor of 29/2 (assum-