Contributing Factors for Acute Illness/Injury from Childhood Pesticide Exposure in North Carolina, USA, 2007-2013.

Between 2007 and 2013, there were 685 events with evidence of a relationship between pesticide exposure and acute illness/injury among persons less than 18 years old in North Carolina (United States). Median age of children affected was 4.3 years (range: 0.2-17.9). Distribution by gender was similar across all age groups. One fatality and four high severity events were observed. The greatest proportion (42%) of events had ocular exposures, followed by dermal (25%) and inhalation (18%) exposures. When more than one route of exposure occurred, dermal and ocular routes were the most common (46%). Almost all events took place indoors and 32 events involved contact with pets. Insecticides (53%) and insect repellants (31%) were the most frequent agents contributing to these events. Manual application of pesticides contributed to the greatest number of events (25%), while application through a pressurized can and use of a trigger pump were involved in 21% and 15% of events, respectively. Additional contributors were due to inappropriate storage of pesticides and improper use of the pesticide. These contributing factors can be removed or minimized if pesticides are stored outside the residence or out of the reach of children and pets, and adequate ventilation is ensured whenever pesticides are applied.

Nicotine exposure and decontamination on tobacco harvesters' hands.

Green tobacco sickness is an illness associated with nicotine exposures among tobacco harvesters. Agricultural workers manually harvest tobacco and thus have the potential for skin exposure to nicotine, particularly on the hands. Often gloves are not worn as it hinders the harvesters' ability to harvest the tobacco leaves. The purposes of this study were to measure the concentration of nicotine residue on the hands of tobacco harvesters and the effectiveness of hand washing at removing the residue. Wipe samples from the hands of 12 tobacco harvesters were collected at the end of morning and afternoon work periods over two consecutive days. Each harvester had one hand wiped before washing his hands, and the other hand wiped after washing his hands with soap and water. Eight samples per worker were collected over the two days for a total of 96 samples collected. In addition to the hand-wipe samples, leaf-wipe samples were collected from 15 tobacco plants to estimate the amount of nicotine residue on the plants. The average nicotine level in leaf-wipe samples was 1.0 microg cm(-2). The geometric mean pre-wash and post-wash nicotine levels on the hands were 10 and 0.38 microg cm(-2), respectively. Nicotine leaf-wipe level, right or left hand and time of sampling did not significantly influence exposure. Job position-working on the bottom versus the top of the tobacco harvesting machine-was associated with nicotine levels. Pre-wash nicotine levels were higher for workers on the bottom of the harvester but not significantly higher (P = 0.17). Post-wash nicotine levels were significantly higher for workers on the bottom of the harvester (P = 0.012). A substantial amount of nicotine was transferred to the hands, but washing with soap and water in the field significantly reduced nicotine levels by an average of 96% (P < 0.0001).

Acephate exposure and decontamination on tobacco harvesters' hands.

Agricultural workers manually harvesting tobacco have the potential for high dermal fexposure to pesticides, particularly on the hands. Often gloves are not worn as it hinders the harvesters' ability to harvest the tobacco leaves. To enable harvesters to remove pesticide residue on the hands and decrease absorbed doses, the EPA Worker Protection Standard requires growers to have hand-wash stations available in the field. The purpose of this study was to measure the concentration of acephate residue on the hands of tobacco harvesters, and the effectiveness of hand washing in reducing the acephate residue. Hand-wipes from the hands of 12 tobacco harvesters were collected at the end of the morning and at the end of the afternoon over 2 consecutive days. Each harvester had one hand-wiped prior to washing his hands, and the other hand-wiped after washing his hands with soap and water. In addition to the hand-wipe samples, leaf-wipe samples were collected from 15 tobacco plants to determine the amount of acephate residue on the plants. The average acephate level in leaf-wipe samples was 1.4 ng/cm(2). The geometric mean prewash and postwash acephate levels on the hands were 10.5 and 0.4 ng/cm(2), respectively. Both prewash (P-value=0.0009) and postwash hand (P-value=0.01) samples were positively correlated with leaf-wipe concentrations. Tobacco harvester position tended to influence hand exposure. Hand washing significantly reduced acephate levels on the hand, after adjusting for sampling period, hand sampled, job position, and leaf-wipe concentration (P-value< or =0.0001) with levels reduced by 96%. A substantial amount of acephate was transferred to the hands, and while hand washing significantly reduced the amount of residue on the hands, not all residue was removed.