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Janis Stone, Wendy Wintersteen, Laura Miller
Iowa State University Extension
Promoting
Agricultural Health & Safety
Pm-1265f
| Reprinted | January 1995
Written
by Janis Stone, textiles and clothing; Wendy Wintersteen,
entomologist; Laura Miller, Editor.
Pesticide
clothing safety |
How
much do you know ? |
Test
your skill with this quick quiz.
1.
When should you wash pesticide-soiled clothing?
a) at the end of the pesticide use season
b) when it shows visible soiling or dirt
c) on a daily basis, as soon as possible after you quit
work
d) all of the above, especially c.
2.
It is okay to wash pesticide-soiled clothes with your
family's regular wash.
True or false?
3.
Using bleach will guarantee removal of all pesticides
from farm clothing.
True or false?
4.
Trace amounts of pesticides in clothes are harmful to
your health.
a) true
b) false
c) answer is uncertain
5.
Pesticides from soiled clothing can be absorbed through
the skin.
True or false?
Answers
to quiz: 1-d; 2- False; 3-False; 4-c; 5-True
|
Few Iowans
suffer acute poisoning from pesticide use today. This good
safety record is possible because people are learning more
about ways to minimize exposure to harmful chemicals.
Pesticides
can enter the body through inhalation or accidental ingestion.
However, the most common and least understood means of poisoning
is through skin absorption. Whether liquid spray or granular,
all forms of pesticide can soil your clothes, putting them
in close contact with your skin where they may be absorbed.
Granules may not stick to fabrics or leave evidence of soiling,
but cotton fabrics may hold their pesticide residues.
Manufacturers'
precautionary statements on the pesticide label indicate the
type of protective covering that must be worn to reduce exposure
to pesticides. Under the Worker Protection Standard (WPS), the
specific items listed will vary with the toxicity of the chemical.
Regardless of toxicity, regular working clothing should be worn
at all times around most chemicals. This includes underclothing,
a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, and socks. Most labels also
specify chemically resistant gloves and boots. Other labels
may specify use of coveralls, chemically resistant aprons, goggles,
face shields, and respirators.
Clothing
materials vary in their ability to resist penetration and
permeation of pesticides. Cotton woven materials, such as
heavy denim, may offer adequate protection from granular and
dry formulations in limited exposure situations. For liquid
sprays, chemically resistant materials or those with a chemically
resistant finish offer more protection and can be worn over
regular work clothing, especially for mixing and loading tasks.
This publication outlines care for regular work clothing of
cotton or cotton-blend materials, such as denim jeans that
90 percent of Iowa farmers wear for pesticide application.
Other Safe Farm publications explain how to care for more
chemically resistant materials and what to do with disposables.
Traces
of pesticide remain on work clothing, even after washing. Careful
laundering techniques, however, can reduce pesticide residue
to extremely small levels, measured in parts per million or
billion. Whether or not trace residues in clothing represent
a health hazard to humans is unknown - pesticides remain biologically
active in the cloth and can suppress enzymes and kill fruit
flies or cockroaches.
Wear
clean clothes daily. If pesticide gets on clothes that are
already soiled or dirty, the pesticide will be more difficult
to remove than from clean clothes.
Discard
all clothing heavily soiled with full-strength or concentrated
liquid pesticides.
Follow
these laundering practices for all cotton and cotton-blend clothing
worn around pesticides. These methods will lessen your exposure
to pesticides and leave the least amount of residue in clothing.
Wear chemically resistant gloves to handle pesticide-soiled
clothes.
Keep pesticide-soiled clothing separate from other family
clothes before and during laundering to avoid transfer
of residues.
Wash pesticide-soiled clothing daily, and as soon as
possible after wear to maximize removal of chemicals.
Pre-rinse or pre-soak in a separate tub, on the line
with a garden hose, or in the pre-rinse cycle of your
washer; discard water used for rinsing or soaking.
Fill tub again with hot or warm water for washing. Use
cold water for the rinse cycle.
Use a heavy-duty detergent, preferably phosphate-based
or liquid.
|
Do not overcrowd the washer; wash only a few items at
a time.
Use the highest water level setting, even for small
loads.
Use the longest wash time cycle-at least 10 to 12 minutes-not
a shorter knit cycle. If your washer has a sudsaver
feature, never use it for clothing soiled with pesticides.
If possible, hang cotton and cotton-blend clothes on
the line to dry in the sun. Sun helps degrade some pesticides.
Before laundering family clothes, run the washer through
a complete cycle without clothes to rinse pesticide residue
out of your machine. Use hot water and detergent. |
Repeated
or multiple washing before drying helps remove more of the residue
from work clothing. After washing, check wet clothes for visible
staining, an unusual odor, or color differences and repeat the
washing- before clothing is dried. If a second washing does
not remove stains or odor, discard the clothes.
Pesticide
clothing safety |
What
can you do? |
You
can reduce your exposure to pesticides by wearing
protective gear and laundering work clothing properly.
Always follow these guidelines when you work around
pesticides:
- Wear
fresh clothes daily.
- Follow
precautionary labeling to choose protective
gear.
- Keep
pesticide-soiled clothes separate from your
family's wash.
- Pre-rinse
and/or repeat the wash for maximum pesticide
removal.
Discard all clothes that have been saturated with
full-strength liquid pesticide concentrate.
|
|
- Ammonia:
Ammonia has not been shown to help remove residues. Never
use bleach and ammonia in the same wash load; toxic fumes
result.
- Chlorine
bleach: A three-hour soak in chlorine bleach solution may
help remove chloropyrifos, but fabrics will be weakened
and color may fade. This has not been shown to be effective
with other pesticides.
- Fabric
softeners: Studies show that fabric softeners neither help
nor hinder residue removal in cotton fabrics.
- Pretreatment
sprays: Solvent-based sprays assist removal of oil-based
pesticide formulations in cottons.
- Salt:
Salt helps remove paraquat, but not other pesticides. Add
1 cup of table salt to your wash load with regular detergent.
- Starch:
Starch used on cotton or cotton-blend fabrics may help prevent
pesticides from reaching the skin. Starch seems to trap
pesticide so that both the starch and pesticide wash away
in the next laundering. Starch must be reapplied after each
wash. Heavy starching of lower pantlegs should not be uncomfortable
for the wearer.
Soil
and water repellent finishes such as Scotchgard??and Zepel??help
cotton fabrics resist penetration of pesticide sprays, but also
make fabrics more difficult to launder. If you use these repellents,
renew them after every second or third wash.
Researchers
continue to study protective clothing materials and laundering
procedures. As new information becomes available, suggested
laundering methods may change.
Always
consult the pesticide label. Manufacturers offer many suggestions,
but you must choose the protective clothing, equipment, and
laundry methods required in your situation.
Safe
Farm promotes health and safety in agriculture. It is funded
by the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health,
Iowa State University, and a network of groups that serve
Iowa farm workers and their families. Printed on recycled
paper with soy ink Cooperative Extension Service, Iowa State
University of Science and Technology and the United States
Department of Agriculture cooperating. Robert M. Anderson,
Jr., director, Ames, Iowa. Distributed in furtherance of the
Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914.
. . .
and justice for all The Iowa Cooperative Extension Service's
programs and policies are consistent with pertinent federal
and state laws and regulations on nondiscrimination regarding
race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age and disability.
File: Health and Safety 2; T&C 1 NIOSH #U05/CCU7060501-03
When
selecting clothes for pesticide safety, two other Safe Farm
publications may help: Cover up with coveralls and aprons, Pm-1563a,
and Keep gloves handy for pesticide work, Pm-1518e. For information
about the Worker Protection Standard, see WPS: New rules for
pesticide safety, Pm-1563b, or ISU Extension's 1991 Private
Pesticide Applicator Study Guide, PAT-1. All publications are
available at your local extension office. This publication is
based on these and other research articles:
- Limiting
Pesticide Exposure through Textile Cleaning Procedures,
(1988) North Central Regional Research Bulletin #314, available
from North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota
58105.
- Raheel,
M., (1988) "Dermal Exposure to Pesticides." Journal of Environmental
Health 51 (2):82-84.
- Stone,
J., and H.M. Stahr, (1989) "Pesticide Residues in Clothing:
A Case Study of a Midwestern Farmer's Coverall Contamination."
Journal of Environmental Health 51 (515):273-276.
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