SEDL / STP / STP989-EB / STP26322S

Development and Testing of Protective Clothing for Lawn-Care Specialists

Slocum, AC
Associate professor, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

Nolan, RJ
Health and Environmental Sciences, The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI

Shern, LC
Graduate research assistant, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

Gay, SL
Assistant professor, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA

Turgeon, AJ
professor and head, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Pages: 8    Published: Jan 1988

Download this paper for $25 PDF (168K)          View License Agreement
Abstract

The objective of this study was to develop protective clothing for lawn-care specialists and to test the effectiveness of the clothing as a barrier to pesticides in comparison with the regular company uniform. Six volunteers, three wearing the experimental protective clothing and three the company uniform, sprayed a field dilution of Dursban 4E while carrying out regular work activities on each of two test days. Volunteers served as their own controls, wearing a different clothing treatment on the two days. Protective clothing consisted of a cotton/polyester, long-sleeve knit shirt with woven yoke overlay and work pants lined with a microporous film laminate in the lower legs and abdominal area. Urinary excretion of the metabolite 3,5,6-TCP, standardized on the basis of creatinine concentration, measured pesticide absorption. Data indicated that the protective clothing significantly reduced the amount of pesticide absorbed relative to the regular uniform.