Abstract
This study aimed to assess the personal protective equipment use, understanding of farmers on pre-harvest interval, and pre-entry period for pesticides on different vegetables after pesticide application in south Gondar, Ethiopia. Sixty-three farmers were randomly selected and interviewed using a questionnaire. The majority of the farmers were not aware of the negative effects of pesticides on their health and the environment if not well handled. The farmers did not have awareness about the pesticide pre-harvest interval period and they did not read the instruction. Similarly, none of the respondents, followed the instruction of the manufacturer (reentry time specified on pesticide label) to reenter the sprayed field. Furthermore, farmers in the study area do have not enough awareness or they are careless regarding PPE use. Unavailability, inconvenience PPE wearing (e.g. mask affect breath properly), misperception about pesticide long term health effect and cost of personal protective equipment were raised as major causes for different farmers as factors behind their pesticide handling without personal protective equipment. It is recommended that If farmers can not to read the period of reentry on the pesticide container label, it is advised to wait at least 72 hours after the last application. Keywords: pesticide Pre-harvest interval period, re-entry time, personal protective equipment DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/11-23-02 Publication date: December 31 st 2021
Highlights
Farmers can be influenced by pesticides during transport of pesticides and preparation of spray solution as well as before, during or after pesticide application (Andrade-Rivas and Rother, 2015)In particular, farmers can be affected by pesticides in three different ways during pesticide use
Unavailability, inconvenience PPE wearing, misperception about pesticide long term health effect and cost of personal protective equipment were raised as major cause for different farmers as factors behind their pesticide handling without personal protective equipment
Farmers in the current study area violate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of USA recommendation, which states that farmers should allow 1-3 weeks period to reduce the residual effects of pesticides before harvesting the crop and it’s depending on the type of pesticides (Sharaniya and Loganathan, 2016)
Summary
Farmers can be influenced by pesticides during transport of pesticides and preparation of spray solution as well as before, during or after pesticide application (Andrade-Rivas and Rother, 2015). Farmers can be affected by pesticides in three different ways during pesticide use. These mainly include oral exposure, dermal exposure, and exposure via inhalation. During spraying with fog (10-30 mm) or aerosol (30-50 mm) small droplets, which are suspended in the air, farmers have to use a mask (Matthews, 2006). If farmers do not use mask, pesticide droplets about 1e 5 mm in diameter are accumulated in the lungs and the breathing tube. Small droplets (
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