Exposure while applying industrial antimicrobial pesticides

Forty-three assessments were made of dermal and/or inhalation chemical exposure while applying industrial antimicrobial pesticide products, either by manually pouring or pumping liquids or by pouring a solid (powder or flake) product. Inhalation exposure was assessed via a personal air sample but was usually below the chemical limit of detection. Dermal exposure outside work clothing and dermal deposition inside the clothing was assessed via dermal gauze dosimeters. While dosimeters at discrete body locations often received exposures below the limit of detection, one or more dosimeters on individual applicators almost always showed measurable exposure. The median measured dose was between 30% and 70% of the maximum credible summed dose calculated by assuming that each dosimeter showed either the level of measurable deposition or one-half of the detection limit at locations where the chemical was unmeasurable. Because of differences in settings and the low level of control implicit in these application processes, measurable dermal doses were highly variable. Mean measurable dose rates were near 3, 8, and 10 mg product/hr, and daily total deposited doses were 2, 3.5, and 5 mg of product for pouring and pumping liquids and for pouring solids, respectively. Although the effect of gloves cannot be directly determined, wearers of gloves had geometric mean hand total doses 155- to 290-fold less than those not wearing gloves. Similar to the statistics for agricultural pesticides, the dermal route of exposure for these industrial pesticides exceeds the inhalation route by 5X to 100X, depending on assumptions regarding nondetectable values.