Reduction of Pesticide Exposure with Protective Clothing for Applicators

摘要

Pesticides provide many benefits but can be hazardous if not used safely. They can enter the body through the skin, the eyes, the mouth, and the lungs. The most common cause of pesticide poisoning for applicators is through skin contact. Due to inadequate protective clothing and drift of spray droplets, farm workers suffer from short-term health risks i. e. headache, eye irritation, nausea, breathlessness, loss of appetite, dizziness, skin allergy, vomiting & scorching and in long run it may lead toskin cancer. Using personal protective equipment i. e. goggles, gloves, cap, mask and apron reduces exposure and thus reduces risks to the pesticide applicator. To mitigate occupational health hazards faced by pesticide applicators especially at the timeof spray on cotton, protective clothing and accessories were designed and their suitability and acceptability were assessed. Designed protective clothings were Dress-I : Jacket with polo collar and elasticized cuffs, Pyjama and especially designed cap of water resistant fabric having lining of cotton hosiery fabric along with beak mask and pleated mask. Dress-I did not cover face and neck properly. Dress-II was made with hood.Nylon (sample-I) used in dress-I was not liked by the respondents due to its appearance and slightly stiff texture, hence other four soft texture fabric samples were collected and tested on various parameters. Sample-Ill was very soft in texture, had lowest air permeability, highest percentage of evaporative resistance of fabric, lowest absolute water permeability, highest yarn count, lowest thickness and lowest weight. Hence, dress-II was developed using fabric of sample-IU and compared with existing dress of sample-I. Masks made of voile were assessed during pilot study. Other two fabrics i. e. cambric and poplin were selected for both masks and compared with chemical resistant mask (readymade). Coloured/plain glasses, gloves and shoes were procuredfrom the market. Developed dresses and procured accessories were given to 25 males for a period of one month for field trials for assessment of suitability and acceptability. The result highlighted that dress-II was assessed to be highly suitable (X_w=2.90) as compared to dress-I (X_w=2.10) with reference to face and neck coverage, comfortable and protection provided by fabric. Both dresses were found to be very comfortable due to its inner layer cotton fabric till two hours (X_w=2.55). Regarding maskschemical resistant mask provided maximum protection against vapours and also comfortability during breathing (X_w=2.90) followed by poplin (X_w=2.45), cambric (X_w=2.30) and voile (X_w=2.15).Protective clothing/accessories were highly acceptable by the male farmers because it did not have adverse effect on work efficiency (X"w=1.72), functional features/fasteners used in the garment did not cause pinching' (X_w=1.70) and protective clothingcan be washed and maintained easily (X_w=1.68).