Researchers from different disciplines have come together to assess the effectiveness of protective equipment for farmers against pesticides. Their findings are alarming.
The personal protective equipment worn by farmers to spray pesticides on their crops effective? This is the question asked by a group of researchers from different disciplines, whose work has been published in the journal Safety Science. “The study focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of combinations used to protect against plant protection products in OECD countries”, they specify.
Laboratory tests are not enough
To assess their effectiveness, the researchers rediscussed what favored their marketing, tested the equipment in the laboratory, in the field and reviewed the preventive instructions related to their use. They noticed a disconnect between theory and reality on the ground. “Laboratory testing can provide information on the penetration and permeation of pesticides through fabric, but only field testing under realistic exposure conditions can determine the overall effectiveness of the design and its ability to reduce penetration.”
Several parameters such as training and risk awareness, the pesticides used or the quality of the equipment also vary from one farmer to another and must be taken into account. “We must not be satisfied with efficacy results from the laboratory. It is on the ground, in the complexity of situations, that we assess the quality of protection.”
Impossible to protect yourself from all the pesticides
By placing 11 patches on the bodies of the farmers, invited to work as usual, the researchers were able to observe the nature of the substances that are deposited on them depending on the equipment worn. and the activity carried out. “The high-pressure jet cleaning of machines is a high-risk moment of contamination, because it puts the pesticide particles back into suspension”, specifies Alain Garrigou, university professor of ergonomics and main author of the study.
Despite their efforts, the researchers still doubt that they will be able to carry out field tests under real conditions of use, given the number of possible situations. “Given the number of formulations commercially available, the fact that the exhibition can combine several products, the variety of working conditions and the low standardization of agricultural practices, one can question the feasibility of such an undertaking. for all scenarios of PPE use in all types of agriculture”. Nevertheless, “he There is no generic combination that protects against all pesticides,” says Alain Garrigou.
Their conclusion is alarming: “people working in agriculture may be exposed to more chemical hazards than previously thought” and “these hazards cannot be attributed solely to worker negligence.”
The publication of this study comes at a time when the Council for guidance and monitoring of the plan to reduce the use of pesticides has just announced that, despite several government plans, the consumption of these products in agriculture had increased sharply in France (+21%) in 2018.
.