Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine
Introduction. Improving current and creating new preventive measures to reduce the risks of harmful inhalation from chemical plant protection agents for agricultural workers and the general population remains an important goal in hygiene science and practice.
The aim of the research was to justify risk-oriented approaches to forecasting the danger of harmful inhalation effects on the human body caused by the volatilization of pesticide active substances (AS) due to their evaporation from the soil and the secondary contamination of the near-surface layer of atmospheric air.
Materials and methods of the research. A statistical analysis was conducted on a dataset of 82 AS of pesticides, for which the maximum permissible concentration in the soil has been previously justified and approved. Mathematical modeling of the AS migration process in the "soil – atmospheric air" system was carried out using the Clapeyron equation. The potential danger of the inhalation impact of AS on the human body was assessed using three coefficients: the inhalation poisoning possibility (CIPP), potential risk of professional influence (PRPI), and potential risk of unprofessional influence (PRUI).
Results. It has been demonstrated that acute inhalation poisoning from the migration of pesticide AS from the soil to the near-surface layer of the atmosphere is practically impossible. Even under extreme conditions (where the concentration reaches the maximum possible according to the saturated vapor pressure), the evaporation of pesticides from the soil into the atmospheric air, in the case of 90% of AS, will not cause harmful inhalation effects on the bodies of agricultural workers during the regulated daily exposure duration throughout their occupational tenure.
Conclusions. Based on the obtained results, a methodology for forecasting the danger of harmful inhalation effects on the human body due to the evaporation of pesticide AS from the soil and the contamination of the near-surface layer of atmospheric air has been developed. This methodology relies on the determination of preliminary and final integral hazard indices. Five criteria have been proposed for calculating the integral hazard indices: saturated vapor pressure, Henry's law constant, CIPP, PRPI and PRUI; for each criterion, three danger levels, their scoring, and weighting coefficients have been defined.
Key words: pesticide, soil, atmospheric air, inhalation exposure, potential risk, integral hazard index
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