Assessment of potential dermal and inhalation exposure of workers to the insecticide imidacloprid using whole-body dosimetry in China

In China, although improvements to the pesticide registration process have been made in la thirty years, no occupational exposure data are required to obtain a commercial license for pesticide product. Consequently, notably little research has been conducted to establish a exposure assessment procedure in China. The present study monitored the potential derm operator exposure from knapsack electric sprayer wheat field application of imidacloprid Liaocheng City, Shandong Province and in Xinxiang City, Henan Province, China, usin whole-body dosimetry. The potential inhalation exposure was determined using a person air pump and XAD-2 sample tubes. The analytical method was developed and validate including such performance parameters as limits of detection and quantification, linear rang recovery and precision. The total potential dermal and inhalation exposures were 14.20, 16.815.39 and 20.78 m L/hr, respectively, for the four operators in Liaocheng and Xinxian corresponding to 0.02% to 0.03% of the applied volume of spray solution. In all trials, the low part(thigh, lower leg) of the body was the most contaminated, accounting for approximate76% to 88% of the total exposure. The inhalation exposure was less than 1% of the tot exposure. Such factors as the application pattern, crop type, spray equipment, operat experience and climatic conditions have been used to explain the exposure distribution ov the different parts of the body. As indicated by the calculated Margin of Exposure, the typic wheat treatment scenarios when a backpack sprayer was used are considered to be safe terms of imidacloprid exposure.