Tips to Reduce your
Exposure at the Farm.
Being safe around pesticides can be tricky, especially when pesticides can be mistaken for dew. Here are a few tips to reduce your risk of pesticide exposure.
āāāāāāāāāāāāāā1. Wear PPE
"Wearing clean long sleeve shirts, pants gloves and a wide brimmed has been shown to reduce pesticide metabolite levels by 60%."
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One of the best ways to reduce pesticide exposure at work is to protect yourself from head to toe. This includes wearing gloves, a long sleeved shirt/pants, closed toed shoes and a wide brimmed hat when harvesting. Wearing these basic clothes has been shown to reduce pesticide levels by 60%. (Salvatore, Alicia, et. al., 2008, Occupational Behaviors and Farmworkers’ Pesticide Exposure: Findings From a Study in Monterey County, California)
2. Wash your hands with soap and water before eating lunch.
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Even though you wear gloves all day while picking the nation's fruit and vegetables you can still have pesticides on your hands. Using soap and water after removing your gloves and eating lunch can reduce the amount of residue by 15%.
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3. When should I put on PPE?
Aside from starting your day with clean clothes, i.e. pants, long sleeves and a wide brimmed hat, any time you are at work in the field you should have on PPE.
4. Rinse your arms, face and hair before leaving work, shake off any loose dust or gravel.
As stated earlier clothing and gloves only reduces 60% of residue. To remove as much as possible it is recommended to "leave it at the work site" which means rinsing your arms, face and hair before leaving work.
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5. How can I stop pesticides from getting in my car?
A simple trick to reduce the amount of pesticides that get into your car and stay, there is place a blanket over the back seats of your car. At the end of the 5 day work week, wash the blanket, so our family is not exposed to pesticides.