Interventions to reduce pesticide exposure from the agricultural sector in Africa: a workshop report

Despite the fact that several cases of unsafe pesticide use among farmers in different parts of Africa have been documented, there is limited evidence regarding which specific interventions are effective in reducing pesticide exposure and associated risks to human health and ecology. The overall goal of the African Pesticide Intervention Project (APsent) study is to better understand ongoing research and public health activities related to interventions in Africa through the implementation of suitable target-specific situations or use contexts. A systematic review of the scientific literature on pesticide intervention studies with a focus on Africa was conducted. This was followed by a qualitative survey among stakeholders involved in pesticide research or management in the African region to learn about barriers to and promoters of successful interventions. The project was concluded with an international workshop in November 2021, where a broad range of topics relevant to occupational and environmental health risks were discussed such as acute poisoning, street pesticides, switching to alternatives, or disposal of empty pesticide containers. Key areas of improvement identified were training on pesticide usage techniques, research on the effectiveness of interventions targeted at exposure reduction and/or behavioral changes, awareness raising, implementation of adequate policies, and enforcement of regulations and processes

The number and percentage of potato-chip processing workers classified by level of self-report discomfort of MSDs (n = 107).

The number and percentage of potato-chip processing workers classified by level of self-report discomfort of MSDs (n = 107).</p

Risk assessment of workers’ exposure to BTEX and hazardous area classification at gasoline stations

Vaporization of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) compounds pollutes the air and causes health hazards at gasoline stations. This study revealed the risk of BTEX exposure according to the hazardous area classification at gasoline stations. The risk assessment of gasoline workers from a representative group of 47 stations, which followed the United States Environmental Protection Agency-IRIS method of assessing BTEX exposure, was expressed as the hazard index (HI). A result of matrix multipliers of the hazardous exposure index and fire possibility from flammable gas classified hazardous area-I and area-II at the fuel dispensers. BTEX concentrations were actively sampled in ambient air and a flammable gas detector was used to measure the flammability level. Results showed that the BTEX concentrations from ambient air monitoring were in the range of 0.1–136.9, 8.1–406.0, 0.8–24.1 and 0.4–105.5 ppb for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene, respectively, which exceeded the NIOSH exposure limit of 100 ppb of benzene concentration. The risk assessment indicated that five stations reached an unacceptable risk of worker exposure to BTEX (HI&gt;1), which correlated with the numbers of gasoline dispensers and daily gasoline sold. The risk matrix classified hazardous area-I at 4 meters and hazardous area-II at 4–8 meters in radius around the fuel dispensers. This study revealed the hazardous areas at gasoline stations and suggests that entrepreneurs must strictly control the safety operation practice of workers, install vapor recovery systems on dispenser nozzles to control BTEX vaporization and keep the hazardous areas clear of fire ignition sources within an eight-meter radius of the dispensers.</jats:p

Situations of work-related diseases and injuries among agriculturists in the upper northeast regions of Thailand

The additional data for the article of "Situations of work-related diseases and injuries among agriculturists in the upper northeast regions of Thailand

The number and percentage of potato-chip processing workers classified by level of ergonomics risk by RULA (n = 107).

The number and percentage of potato-chip processing workers classified by level of ergonomics risk by RULA (n = 107).</p

Health risk assessment on musculoskeletal disorders among potato-chip processing workers.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the most common complaint among industrial workers. The potato-chip processing industry involves workers in repetitive activities leading to MSDs. This cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to assess MSDs health risk among potato-chip processing workers. It was conducted among 107 randomly sampled workers from a distribution like other groups exposed to similar ergonomics factors. A MSDs health-risk assessment produced a matrix of combined results based on a self-report questionnaire (5 levels) and an ergonomics risk assessment using RULA (4 levels). The self-reported MSDs questionnaire showed that workers had moderate to very high discomfort levels, i.e., 11.21% trunk, 9.35% lower limbs, 8.41% upper limbs and 4.66% for the neck. Ergonomic risks were found to be at a very high level, 77.57%, and high risk level, 19.63%. The combined matrix assessments showed that most workers were at moderate to very high MSDs risk, i.e., 43.92% trunk, 36.45% upper limbs, 32.71% lower limbs and 20.56% for the neck. This health risk matrix found a higher proportion of workers presenting with MSDs health risk compared with the musculoskeletal disorders self-assessment alone. Therefore, the MSDs risk matrix assessment could be useful for surveillance screening prior to implementing a risk-reduction program. Further, using ergonomics training programs and improving work stations for high-risk groups are also recommended based on the ergonomic and health risk assessments in this study