Assessment of occupational exposure to pesticide mixtures with endocrine disrupting activity

TY - JOUR

T1 - Assessment of occupational exposure to pesticide mixtures with endocrine disrupting activity

AU - Wong, Hie Ling

AU - Garthwaite, David G

AU - Ramwell, Carmel T

AU - Brown, Colin David

N1 - © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.

PY - 2019/1/21

Y1 - 2019/1/21

N2 - Occupational exposure to pesticide mixtures comprising active substance(s) and/or co-formulant(s) with known/possible endocrine-disrupting activity was assessed using long-term activity records for 50 professional operators representing arable and orchard cropping systems in Greece, Lithuania, and the UK. Exposure was estimated using the harmonised Agricultural Operator Exposure Model, and risk was quantified as a point of departure index (PODI) using the lowest no observed (adverse) effect level. Use of substances with known/possible endocrine activity was common, with 43 of the 50 operators applying at least one such active substance on more than 50% of spray days; at maximum, one UK operator sprayed five such active substances and 10 such co-formulants in a single day. At 95th percentile, total exposure was largest in the UK orchard system (0.041 × 10 −2  mg kg bw −1  day −1 ) whereas risk was largest in the Greek cropping systems (PODI 0.053 × 10 −1 ). All five cropping systems had instances indicating potential for risk when expressed at a daily resolution (maximum PODI 1.2–10.7). Toxicological data are sparse for co-formulants, so combined risk from complex mixtures of active substances and co-formulants may be larger in reality.

AB - Occupational exposure to pesticide mixtures comprising active substance(s) and/or co-formulant(s) with known/possible endocrine-disrupting activity was assessed using long-term activity records for 50 professional operators representing arable and orchard cropping systems in Greece, Lithuania, and the UK. Exposure was estimated using the harmonised Agricultural Operator Exposure Model, and risk was quantified as a point of departure index (PODI) using the lowest no observed (adverse) effect level. Use of substances with known/possible endocrine activity was common, with 43 of the 50 operators applying at least one such active substance on more than 50% of spray days; at maximum, one UK operator sprayed five such active substances and 10 such co-formulants in a single day. At 95th percentile, total exposure was largest in the UK orchard system (0.041 × 10 −2  mg kg bw −1  day −1 ) whereas risk was largest in the Greek cropping systems (PODI 0.053 × 10 −1 ). All five cropping systems had instances indicating potential for risk when expressed at a daily resolution (maximum PODI 1.2–10.7). Toxicological data are sparse for co-formulants, so combined risk from complex mixtures of active substances and co-formulants may be larger in reality.

KW - Active substance

KW - Co-formulant

KW - Combined effect

KW - Professional operator

KW - Regulation

KW - Risk

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85056878996&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11356-018-3676-5

DO - 10.1007/s11356-018-3676-5

M3 - Article

SN - 0944-1344

VL - 26

SP - 1642

EP - 1653

JO - Environmental Science and Pollution Research (ESPR)

JF - Environmental Science and Pollution Research (ESPR)

IS - 2

ER -