Re-aerosolization of Bacillus thuringiensis spores from concrete and turf.

Spores of Bacillus anthracis deposited on surfaces can become airborne again as a result of air currents and mechanical forces. As such, they are a potential source of infection by inhalation. Spores of Bacillus thuringiensis were used to quantify this phenomenon in a simulation of outdoor conditions. Concrete and turf surfaces were inoculated by aerosol to produce high spore densities (greater than 1 × 109  CFU per m2 ) which were then subjected to the passage of air at 10 ms-1 with and without simulated walking. Re-aerosolized spores were sampled by wetted wall cyclone air samplers. The mean total re-aerosolization rate from concrete (m-2  min-1 ) was 1·16 × 10-3 for wind alone and 3·2 × 10-3 for wind and simulated walking while for turf the respective values were 2·7 × 10-4 and 6·7 × 10-4 . SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Following the malicious and/or accidental release of an aerosol of Bacillus anthracis spores, the immediate risk of human inhalation would decrease as the spores were deposited on surfaces or diluted by wind flow. There is, however, a concern that the deposited spores could become re-aerosolized and so present an ongoing hazard. Using an accurate simulant for B. anthracis spores a method is reported here that allowed the enumeration of re-aerosolized spores from concrete and turf by wind flow and footfall. Under the conditions used, the rates of re-aerosolization were low. These findings will need to be verified under real outdoor conditions before the true significance in terms of secondary exposure to pathogenic spores can be assessed.

Modelling exposure of workers, residents and bystanders to vapour of plant protection products after application to crops.

Agricultural use of plant protection products can result in exposure of bystanders, residents, operators and workers. Within the European Union (EU) FP7 project BROWSE, a tool based on a set of models and scenarios has been developed, aiming to assess the risk of exposure of humans to these products. In the present version of the tool only a first conservative tier is available for outdoor vapour exposure assessment. In the vapour exposure evaluation, the target concentrations in air at 10m distance from the edge of a treated field are calculated for specific scenarios for each EU regulatory zone. These scenarios have been selected to represent reasonable worst case volatilisation conditions. The exposure assessment is based on a series of weekly applications in a five year period to cover a wide range of meteorological conditions. The volatilisation from the crop is calculated using the PEARL model and this PEARL output provides the emission strength used as input for the short term version of the atmospheric transport model OPS. The combined PEARL-OPS model is tested against measurements from a field experiment. First results of this test show that the mean concentration level was predicted fairly well. However, sometimes the differences between observations and simulations were found to be substantial. Improvements are suggested for the vapour exposure scenarios as well as for further model development. In the current version of the BROWSE tool a simplified procedure is used to assess single and multiple applications. The actual period of application and the time of application during the day are fixed, and the growth stage of the crop cannot be taken into account. Moreover, competing processes such as penetration of the substance into the plant tissue are not considered. The effect of these factors on the target exposure concentrations is discussed.

Perceptions of pesticides exposure risks by operators, workers, residents and bystanders in Greece, Italy and the UK.

The EU Directive on the sustainable use of pesticides (EU128/2009/EC) requires European Member States to develop training activities targeting occupational exposure to pesticides, and communication material aimed at residents and bystanders. Risk perceptions, knowledge and attitudes associated with passive and occupational exposure to pesticide potentially influence the extent to which different stakeholders adopt self-protective behaviour. A methodology for assessing the link between attitudes, adoption of self-protective behaviours and exposure was developed and tested. A survey was implemented in the Greece, Italy and the UK, and targeted stakeholders associated with pesticide exposure linked to orchards, greenhouse crops and arable crops respectively. The results indicated that the adoption of protective measures is low for residents and bystanders, with the exception of residents in Greece, when compared to operators and workers, who tend to follow recommended safety practices. A regression analysis was used to examine the factors affecting the probability of adopting protective measures as well the as the level of exposure in the case of operators and workers where data are available. The results indicate that the likelihood of engaging in self-protective behaviour is not significantly affected by perceptions of own health being affected by pesticides for residents and bystanders. However, operators who perceive that their heath has been negatively affected by the use of pesticides are found to be more likely to adopt self-protective behaviours. Gender and country differences, in perceptions, attitudes and self-protection are also observed. Recommendations for improved communication, in particular for vulnerable groups, are provided.