>I came upon a farm today where the workers were using a simple mixture of
>Dipel and cornmeal to treat budworms on the tobacco. But then I realized
>the workers were using their bare hands. I know Dipel is mild, but I don't
>feel it should be non -chalently administered with ungloved hands. Am I
>correct?? Does anyone know where I can find regulations concerning workers'
>handling of pesticides??
>
>Liz Pike
I believe Dipel consists of the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)
biopesticide, ie the actual soil bacteria that produce the Bt toxin.
(now a big issue in biotech).
There is one study which found that Bt can cause allergic reactions in
some workers. Taken from the document GE Debate, which I compile (by
the way, version 1.0 is now out):
- A new study of Ohio crop pickers and handlers finds that Bt can
provoke immunological changes indicative of a developing allergy. With
long-term exposure, affected individuals might develop asthma or other
serious allergic reactions, notes study leader I. Leonard Bernstein of
the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. (See: Science News
Online, Vol 156 No 1, 3 Jul 1999). This means that people must avoid
ingesting even "relatively safe" biopesticides like Bt.
- A health survey evaluated farm workers before the spraying of
Bt pesticides and 1 and 4 months after the spraying. Two groups of low
and medium exposure workers were also assessed. While there was no
evidence of occupationally-related respiratory disease, positive skin
prick tests were seen in exposed workers, with a significant increase
in the number of positive tests to spores 1 to 4 months after exposure
to Bt. The increase was more significant in high rather than low
exposure workers. The study concluded that exposure to Bt may lead to
allergic skin sensitisation and induction of IgE antibodies or IgG
antibodies - or both. (Bernstein J L et al. 1999. Immune responses in
farm workers after exposure to Bacillus thuringiensis pesticides.
Environmental Health Perspectives. 107 (7): 575-582)
Roberto Verzola
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@cals.ncsu.edu with the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@cals.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Jul 03 2000 - 12:00:39 EDT