The risk assessment for employees working under different technologies of application of pesticides

Abstract

Introduction. In recent years, agricultural production in Russia has increased at the expense of farms and personal subsidiary plots; farmers use chemical protection means - pesticides to protect crops. Farmers and users of private household plots are considered the leading risk group most exposed to pesticides during their application, transportation, and loading. At the same time, farmers and users do not have special training in the safe handling of pesticides. They do not undergo periodic medical examinations, which increases the risk of exposure to pesticides on their health. Purpose of work. Study of exposures of pesticides in the air of the working area and on the skin of workers when they use pesticides in private farms, farms on-field, and high garden crops; justification of the requirements for the safe use of pesticides in private farms and farms. Material and methods. The established exposure levels of pesticides in the air and on the skin were compared with hygiene standards calculated or experimentally set: MPC / OBUV (mg / m3) in the atmosphere of the working area and MPC/ODU (mg/cm2) of skin contamination. The exposure level risk was determined by the KBsumm. The risk of exposure to pesticides for the operator/farmer/user based on the absorbed dose, determined by the value of the safety factor - KBp, and exposure - Kbsumm, is considered acceptable when the value of KBsumm and KBp < 1. Results. The authors presented generalized results of the analysis of the risk of exposure to pesticides in terms of both exposure (KBsumm) and absorbed dose (KBp) in natural conditions when using 20 drugs on field and garden crops in private household plots and farms. The absorbed dose for farmers, calculated taking into account the work for 6 hours, when compared with ADI, in some cases, exceeded the permissible values. The risk of using two preparations in suspension concentrates and one preparation in the form of a nanoemulsion concentrate in terms of the absorbed dose during knapsack spraying of field crops in farms was higher than the acceptable one. Conclusion. The hygienic assessment of the risk of using pesticides of different hazard classes for all land application methods into the environment convinces us the actual hygienic situation to be determined mainly by the state of the equipment used, compliance with hygiene regulations. The degree of professional skills of operators, as well as the culture of pesticide use, are significant. In the future, the risk, especially in terms of the absorbed dose, must be calculated for users of private household plots and farmworkers, taking into account the differences in cultivated areas’ volumes.