Summary

Problem. Pesticides play an important role in the agricultural production but their misuse affect the health of farmers and workers who manipulate such toxic substances. In the field of occupational hygiene, researches have been working in finding out the most appropriate method to estimate the human exposure in order to assess the risk and therefore to take the due decisions to improve the processes in the pesticide management and to reduce the health risk.

Goals. The goal of this research was focused in creating a model for human exposure assessment specially for farming systems in developing countries by (i) evaluating the available models for human exposure assessment developed in industrialized countries, (ii) measuring the exposure in the study areas of potato and flower farming systems in Colombia, and (iii) proposing a pesticide flow model to estimate quantitatively the human exposure.

Methods. The research was organized in three phases by using different methods, namely (i) evaluation of previous models of human exposure assessment (by means of a Multi-Criteria and Sensitivity Analysis); (ii) quantification of dermal exposures in Vereda La Hoya (by applying the Whole Body Dosimetry, Luminiscence Spectrometry and Tracer Method); and (iii) the development of a pesticide flow model for the human exposure assessment (by applying the Material Flow Analysis method). This model was built with dermal exposure measurements obtained in the study area of greenhouse flower crops in Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia.

Results. DERM, DREAM, PHED and RISKOFDERM were selected as the most appropriate models to be applied in farming systems in developing countries as their determinants are relevant for the assessment of pesticide use and all the processes involved during the pesticide management. Afterwards these four models were applied to assess the dermal exposure in the case study of Vereda La Hoya and their determinants were compared with the characteristics of the study area, DREAM and DERM were found as the most appropriate models to assess the dermal exposure in these study areas. However, because some relevant determinants are still absent, the accuracy of these models could be improved if these are included. When comparing the final model assessment of dermal exposure in the study area, DREAM was found as the model that assesses more accurately the dermal exposure in this study area.

In the study area of Vereda La Hoya, Colombia was found that the application was the activity with the highest PDE. Even though lower body parts (thighs and legs) were the most exposed, these body parts also showed the highest level of protection because of the work clothing. The ADE was high for arms and upper back due to the lack of adequate work clothing covering the complete arm and the direct contact of the upper back with the spills on the sprayer tank. Furthermore, it was found that Metamidophos is the most toxic pesticide used in Vereda La Hoya. Farmers may reduce significantly the health risk by using adequate work clothing made of appropriate fabrics that covers the whole body including the arms, cleaning properly all the pesticide residues left on the sprayer before each application, and avoiding the modification of nozzles using only nozzles with the standard discharge.

The proposed pesticide flow model helps to identify the patterns of pesticide distribution on the body, the level of protection given by personal protective equipment and the estimates of potential and actual dermal and inhalation exposure. This information can be used to determine the health risk level by comparing the model estimates with the AEOL reference values for each pesticide. In addition, the model makes it possible to easily identify the activities or body parts that have high levels of exposure. This is useful in identifying improvements that will decrease the exposure during pesticide management. Because it is not feasible to measure direc