Long vs. short monitoring intervals for peach harvesters exposed to foliar azinphos-methyl residues.

A dermal monitoring study of peach harvesters exposed to azinphos-methyl (AM) residues was conducted in Sutter County, California. Harvesters were paid by piecework, which allowed characterization of the relationship between dermal exposure (DE) and time or production. Workers wore 2 long-sleeved knit T-shirts for each monitoring interval and also provided a hand residue sample. Dislodgeable foliar residue (DFR) samples were also collected. The highest correlations were found for inner shirts vs. production and DE vs. time worked (r2 = 0.67, P < 0.01). DE was greatest after 2-h exposures and reached equilibrium after 3 h, indicating that exposure estimates from shorter intervals would overestimate exposure.