Conifer seedling nursery worker exposure to glyphosate.

This study addresses the measurements of glyphosate exposure received by 14 workers employed at two tree nurseries. The applicators, weeders, and scouts monitored all wore normal work clothing, which for applicators was a protective suit, rubber gloves and boots. Measurements were made of the glyphosate that was dislodged from conifer seedlings during water rinses taken twice weekly from May through August. Only 1 of these 78 dislodgeable residue samples were positive for glyphosate. Nine cotton gauze patches were attached to the clothing of each worker one day per week during this same period. Hand washes were taken on the same day that patches were worn. Most patches and hand washes from applicators and weeders contained measurable amounts of glyphosate. Analyses of individual patches showed that the body portions receiving the highest exposure were ankles and thighs. For scouts only 1 of 23 hand washes contained glyphosate. To provide a measure of the exposure occurring via all exposure routes (dermal, ingestion, and inhalation) an analysis was made of the total urine excreted. For most workers a daily total urine collection was made for 12 consecutive weeks. Urine analysis, the biological monitoring tool used to assess the total amount absorbed via all avenues, did not reveal any positive samples. The lower limit of method validation for glyphosate in the urine samples was 0.01 micrograms/ml. High rainfall, or irrigation as needed, in conjunction with normal field dissipation avenues and worker training were cited as contributing factors for the low amounts of glyphosate exposure found.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Assessment of lawn care worker exposure to dithiopyr.

Eighteen ChemLawn lawn care specialists were monitored for worker exposure by both passive dosimetry and biological monitoring techniques in the performance of normal duties of mixing/loading and application of Dimension herbicide to turfgrass. Passive dosimetry was performed, utilizing cotton gauze patches, silica gel air sampling absorption media, and hand washes as per US Environmental Protection Agency Pesticide Assessment Guidelines. Biological monitoring was performed by analysis of all urine specimens collected from each specialist from initiation until 72 h after application of dithiopyr. The mean body dose estimate from urinalysis of the specimens collected over the 72 h period was 4.60 x 10(-5) mg/kg/lb applied. The passive dosimetry body dose estimates using dermal deposition measurements corrected for skin penetration and simulated inhalation measurements were calculated for the two clothing scenarios observed in the worker tests. The mean body dose estimate for a fully clothed specialist wearing a long-sleeved shirt was 8.09 x 10(-5) mg/kg/lb while for a specialist wearing a short-sleeved shirt the estimate was 3.62 x 10(-4) mg/kg/lb. The lower leg regions, which were protected by long pants and boots, had the highest exposure by passive dosimetry data.

Liquid chromatographic determination of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in environmental water: collaborative study.

A new method for determination of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) residues in environmental water was collaboratively studied by 6 laboratories. The method is simpler and shorter than previous methods. A filtered volume of water is evaporated to dryness and the residue is dissolved in a buffered EDTA solution. Glyphosate and AMPA are determined by liquid chromatography with postcolumn reaction detection. The method was validated over the range 0.50-5000 ppb, although one of the collaborating laboratories could not reliably quantitate below 1.0 ppb. Statistical analysis of the results showed that typical reproducibility relative standard deviations (RSDR) ranged from 11 to 20% for both glyphosate and AMPA, which compares very well with predicted values for this concentration range. Total variability (as measured by sR) increased with increasing fortification level. The method has been adopted official first action by AOAC.

Liquid chromatographic method for quantitation of glyphosate and metabolite residues in organic and mineral soils, stream sediments, and hardwood foliage.

A liquid chromatographic method for determining glyphosate (GLYPH) and its major metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in various environmental substrates is described. Ion-exchange column chromatography is coupled with post-column ninhydrin derivatization and absorbance detection at 570 nm. Use of a valve-switching technique allowed quantitation of both analytes in a single chromatographic run and eliminated slow-eluting, coextracted interferences. The method was successfully used to quantitate GLYPH and AMPA in organic and mineral soils, stream sediments, and foliage of 2 hardwood brush species. Mean recovery efficiencies for GLYPH as determined from fortified blank field samples were as follows: bottom sediment 84%, suspended sediment 66%, organic soils 79%, mineral soils 73%, alder leaf litter 81%, salmonberry leaf litter 84%, and artificial deposit collectors 87%. Precision for GLYPH determination was good with less than 14% coefficient of variation on mean recovery for all substrates. Limits of detection were lowest for sediments (0.01 microgram/g dry mass) and highest for foliage substrates (0.10 microgram/g dry mass). Using this system, 6 samples/person/day were routinely analyzed.