Exposure to pesticides : Pt. IV. The harvesting of chrysanthemums in greenhouses

In 12 greenhouses for chrysanthemum culture in the Netherlands, dermal exposure to hand and forearms, and respiratory exposure to chlorothalonil during harvesting activities have been measured. Two harvesting techniques were compared, during which respectively the highest and lowest levels of exposure were expected. The difference between both techniques was the way some actions (removing leaves and clods) were carried out: manually or automatically with a harvesting machine. It was observed that dermal exposure differed for the various harvesting techniques. The exposure was on average 3.6 mg/h for manual harvesting, and 1.1mg/h for automatic harvesting. Re-entry time had a large influence on exposure. Working after a relatively short re-entry interval (11-17 days) resulted in an exposure of about a factor 6 to 9 higher than after a long re-entry interval (32-56 days). The respiratory exposure during all tasks was less than 1% of total potential exposure to chlorothalonil