• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.73-81
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• 2014

The present study was carried out to assess exposure and risk to thiophanate-methyl wettable powder for agricultural worker during mixing/loading and application with power sprayer in green pepper, cucumber and apple fields. Dermal exposure was measured with patches, gloves, socks and masks, while inhalation exposure was evaluated with personal air pump and solid sorbent. Those methods were full validated before experiment. During mixing/loading, dermal exposure amount in green pepper, cucumber and apple fields was $24.0{\pm}6.7$, $4.5{\pm}1.5$ and $18.5{\pm}0.6mg$, corresponding to mean 0.007, 0.001 and 0.005% of prepared active ingredient, respectively. The major exposed part for mixer/loader was hands (78-92%). Dermal exposure amount for applicator in green pepper, cucumber and apple fields was $84.9{\pm}14.0$, $34.0{\pm}20.8$ and $30.7{\pm}9.1mg$, corresponding to mean 0.024, 0.016 and 0.013% of applied active ingredient, respectively. The main body parts of exposure in apple field were hands, while thighs and shins in other fields. Inhalation exposure amount in green pepper, cucumber and apple fields was $1.5{\pm}2.2$, $52.7{\pm}48.9$ and $4.0{\pm}4.9{\mu}g$ during mixing/loading and $0.2{\pm}0.1$, $23.2{\pm}12.4$ and $0.4{\pm}0.6{\mu}g$ for applicator, respectively. These results were suggested that main factors affecting dermal exposure were contact frequency to the plants, foliage density, hygienic behavior, work type, and working environment, while inhalation exposure was affected mainly by working environment, especially wind. In risk assessment, margin of safety for thiophanate-methyl in all cases was over 1. However, during application in green pepper field, margin of safety was close to 1.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.210-214
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• 2009

This study identified microbial risk factors in agricultural products processing center (APC) through the microbial hazard analysis to introduce good agricultural practices (GAP) system in APCs. Samples were collected from surroundings (basket, tray loader, weighing cup, collector, box) and workers by swabbing (glove and cloth) and glove juice method (hand) to enumerate total bacteria, coliform, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella. The levels of total bacterial and coliform populations recovered from surroundings were 2.4-5.7 log CFU/100 $cm^2$ and 2.3-5.7 log CFU/100 $cm^2$ or hand for surroundings, and workers, respectively samples were 2.3-5.7 log CFU/100 $cm^2$ or hand. Escherichia coli populations were determined to be below detection limit. S. aureus and Salmonella populations recovered from surroundings were 3.0-4.4 log CFU/100 $cm^2$ and close to detection limit, respectively. Corresponding bacterial populations to worker's samples were 2.8-5.2 log CFU/100 $cm^2$ or hand (S. aureus) and below detection limit (Salmonella). Bacterial populations of APC certified facilities were similar (p${\geq}$0.05) with those of uncertified facilities. These results showed that this study should be useful in development of GAP models to improve microbial safety in APCs.