Dr. Wayne Sanderson has spent much of his career studying pesticides and people. Sanderson’s research shows that farm families, perhaps not surprisingly, have greater exposure to pesticides than city dwellers and rural residents who don’t farm.
“What this indicates is that farmers are bringing chemicals into the home, mainly on their clothing and shoes,” says Sanderson, chair and professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health.
Sanderson says the amounts of pesticides he’s found in farmers’ homes are at relatively low levels, but without the weather to break down the chemicals, they tend to stick around.
“When small kids crawl around the house, they have a greater exposure than they should,” says Sanderson. “We want to encourage people to exercise caution, and keep pesticides from migrating into the home by following relatively simple precautions. Don’t bring the clothes you’ve worn to apply pesticides into the home or your car. It’s one simple fix.”
Farmers don’t ordinarily have access to change rooms and may return to the house from the field several times during a spray day. When this happens, farmers can inadvertently bring chemicals into the home environment and into contact with family members. Extra precautions are needed to prevent pesticides from entering the home.
Precautions make good sense
“Everyone needs a motivator,” states Glen Blahey, Provincial Farm Safety Coordinator with Manitoba Labour and Immigration in Winnipeg. “People handling pesticides have three motivators: personal, financial and legal.”
Blahey says the personal and the financial motivators are probably the most compelling, although industrial safety and health regulations also apply to farmers in many jurisdictions.
“You have a personal investment to protect your family and the people around you,” Blahey explains. “And as an agricultural producer you want to maintain a reasonable standard of living. You don’t want to jeopardize your livelihood by not following prescribed safety and health practices.”
Whatever the motivators, Blahey advises a safety-first approach. When talking to 200 people at a commercial pesticide applicators conference recently, Blahey put forward his number one safety rule: Read the label directions.
Labels provide critical information
“Just because you’re using the same pesticide as last year doesn’t mean you don’t need to read the label,” Blahey cautions. “The label is what the manufacturer considers critical information for the applicator to know.”
Labels not only provide application rates and chemical formulations, they also specify the protective equipment required as well as field re-entry intervals after the product has been applied, and emergency response information.
“With the thousands of agricultural chemicals used in farm operations, a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t apply to safe handling,” says Blahey.
Read the label to identify the procedures and equipment that will protect handlers for each chemical. Protective equipment could include specialized eye or face protection, respiratory protection, chemical-resistant overalls or an apron, protective gloves and boots that are impervious to chemicals.
Handling procedures are equally important. Blahey says that each person involved in any way in chemical applications should be trained and competent in the entire handling process. That includes fresh instruction each season about what to do in case of an incident, equipment failure or a spill.
The clean-up
Farmers who think “safety first” protect themselves and their families at all times from inadvertent chemical contamination.
When handling pesticides, a bucket of clean water and a container of soap should always be available. Blahey points out that this comes in handy when workers take a break. “If a pesticide splashes on them, they should wash up immediately to avoid prolonged contact with the skin – and so the pesticide doesn’t eventually come in contact with food, other body parts or other people,” he says.
Always remove boots, overalls and any other protective clothing worn during the application before entering the family vehicle or home. Don’t pick up or hold children when you have contaminated clothes on.
“The objective of the protective clothing is to provide a physical barrier so the chemical doesn’t penetrate the clothing underneath,” Blahey says. “Wearing chemically-contaminated protective clothing outside the worksite defeats their purpose and jeopardizes the health of others. That’s what we’re trying to avoid.”
Pesticides and the Family Laundry
- Don’t bring anything into the house that is contaminated with pesticides.
- Make sure you have a place away from common family areas to strip off contaminated clothing.
- Separate this clothing from the family laundry.
- Contaminated clothing, even those items worn under protective coveralls should be washed separately from the general family laundry.
- Use the hottest water temperature possible.
- Fill the washer to its maximum capacity.
- Use a strong detergent and if possible hang the clothes outside to dry—most pesticide residues breakdown fairly quickly in sunlight and heat.
- Once work clothing has been washed, but before washing family laundry, clean the washing machine. Run it through a full cycle with detergent but without clothing.
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Dr. Wayne Sanderson has spent much of his career studying pesticides and people. Sanderson’s research shows that farm families, perhaps not surprisingly, have greater exposure to pesticides than city dwellers and rural residents who don’t farm.
“What this indicates is that farmers are bringing chemicals into the home, mainly on their clothing and shoes,” says Sanderson, chair and professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health.
Sanderson says the amounts of pesticides he’s found in farmers’ homes are at relatively low levels, but without the weather to break down the chemicals, they tend to stick around.
“When small kids crawl around the house, they have a greater exposure than they should,” says Sanderson. “We want to encourage people to exercise caution, and keep pesticides from migrating into the home by following relatively simple precautions. Don’t bring the clothes you’ve worn to apply pesticides into the home or your car. It’s one simple fix.”
Farmers don’t ordinarily have access to change rooms and may return to the house from the field several times during a spray day. When this happens, farmers can inadvertently bring chemicals into the home environment and into contact with family members. Extra precautions are needed to prevent pesticides from entering the home.
Precautions make good sense
“Everyone needs a motivator,” states Glen Blahey, Provincial Farm Safety Coordinator with Manitoba Labour and Immigration in Winnipeg. “People handling pesticides have three motivators: personal, financial and legal.”
Blahey says the personal and the financial motivators are probably the most compelling, although industrial safety and health regulations also apply to farmers in many jurisdictions.
“You have a personal investment to protect your family and the people around you,” Blahey explains. “And as an agricultural producer you want to maintain a reasonable standard of living. You don’t want to jeopardize your livelihood by not following prescribed safety and health practices.”
Whatever the motivators, Blahey advises a safety-first approach. When talking to 200 people at a commercial pesticide applicators conference recently, Blahey put forward his number one safety rule: Read the label directions.
Labels provide critical information
“Just because you’re using the same pesticide as last year doesn’t mean you don’t need to read the label,” Blahey cautions. “The label is what the manufacturer considers critical information for the applicator to know.”
Labels not only provide application rates and chemical formulations, they also specify the protective equipment required as well as field re-entry intervals after the product has been applied, and emergency response information.
“With the thousands of agricultural chemicals used in farm operations, a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t apply to safe handling,” says Blahey.
Read the label to identify the procedures and equipment that will protect handlers for each chemical. Protective equipment could include specialized eye or face protection, respiratory protection, chemical-resistant overalls or an apron, protective gloves and boots that are impervious to chemicals.
Handling procedures are equally important. Blahey says that each person involved in any way in chemical applications should be trained and competent in the entire handling process. That includes fresh instruction each season about what to do in case of an incident, equipment failure or a spill.
The clean-up
Farmers who think “safety first” protect themselves and their families at all times from inadvertent chemical contamination.
When handling pesticides, a bucket of clean water and a container of soap should always be available. Blahey points out that this comes in handy when workers take a break. “If a pesticide splashes on them, they should wash up immediately to avoid prolonged contact with the skin – and so the pesticide doesn’t eventually come in contact with food, other body parts or other people,” he says.
Always remove boots, overalls and any other protective clothing worn during the application before entering the family vehicle or home. Don’t pick up or hold children when you have contaminated clothes on.
“The objective of the protective clothing is to provide a physical barrier so the chemical doesn’t penetrate the clothing underneath,” Blahey says. “Wearing chemically-contaminated protective clothing outside the worksite defeats their purpose and jeopardizes the health of others. That’s what we’re trying to avoid.”
Pesticides and the Family Laundry
- Don’t bring anything into the house that is contaminated with pesticides.
- Make sure you have a place away from common family areas to strip off contaminated clothing.
- Separate this clothing from the family laundry.
- Contaminated clothing, even those items worn under protective coveralls should be washed separately from the general family laundry.
- Use the hottest water temperature possible.
- Fill the washer to its maximum capacity.
- Use a strong detergent and if possible hang the clothes outside to dry—most pesticide residues breakdown fairly quickly in sunlight and heat.
- Once work clothing has been washed, but before washing family laundry, clean the washing machine. Run it through a full cycle with detergent but without clothing.
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- Required fields are marked with *.