# Assessment of Handler Exposure to Pesticides from Stretcher-Type Power Sprayers in Orchards
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Dermal and Inhalation Exposure during Application
#### 3.2.1. Dermal Unit Exposure during Application  
The total PDE of handlers was 350 mg\(\cdot\)kg\({}^{-1}\). These data is close to the exposure assessment data for the fruit tree application scenario reported by [PERSON] et al. [25] and lower than the exposure data for the knapsack sprayer in cornfields and peanut fields reported by [PERSON] et al. [10] and [PERSON] et al. [12], but higher than the exposure data using pesticide speed sprayer application in an apple orchard [26]. As shown in Table 3, according to the UE of each garment, the highest contaminated sections were hands and shins, accounting for an average of 59% and 19% of total dermal exposure, respectively. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Part of Garment** & **1** & **2** & **3** & **4** & **5** & **6** & **7** & **Mean** & **SD** \\ \hline a1 & 0.10 & 0.18 & 0.32 & 0.07 & 0.09 & 0.16 & 0.12 & 0.15 & 0.08 \\ a2 & 0.23 & 0.18 & 0.08 & 0.08 & 0.06 & 0.08 & 0.06 & 0.11 & 0.07 \\ a3 & 0.07 & 0.07 & 0.02 & 0.11 & 0.66 & 0.02 & 0.01 & 0.14 & 0.23 \\ a4 & 0.02 & 0.57 & 0.05 & 0.05 & 0.03 & 0.05 & 0.09 & 0.12 & 0.20 \\ a5 & 0.18 & 0.23 & 0.14 & 0.05 & 0.25 & 0.08 & 0.13 & 0.15 & 0.07 \\ a6 & 0.15 & 0.92 & 0.12 & 0.30 & 0.10 & 0.02 & 0.16 & 0.25 & 0.31 \\ a7 & 0.78 & 0.26 & 0.13 & 0.14 & 1.23 & 2.58 & 4.03 & 1.31 & 1.48 \\ a8 & 0.98 & 99.48 & 7.43 & 0.22 & 0.17 & 2.35 & 53.78 & 23.49 & 38.71 \\ a9 & 0.31 & 124.26 & 9.27 & 0.25 & 0.02 & 2.63 & 40.19 & 25.28 & 45.97 \\ b1 & 44.18 & 31.01 & 4.92 & 6.76 & 3.75 & 17.83 & 18.46 & 18.13 & 15.03 \\ b2 & 7.07 & 5.54 & 4.56 & 4.64 & 4.28 & 42.70 & 16.04 & 12.12 & 14.11 \\ b3 & 4.87 & 14.36 & 2.50 & 3.71 & 4.85 & 21.38 & 15.53 & 9.60 & 7.38 \\ b4 & 4.12 & 47.16 & 5.02 & 6.59 & 4.57 & 14.92 & 33.84 & 16.60 & 17.17 \\ b5 & 11.41 & 20.11 & 11.32 & 0.04 & 3.95 & 22.07 & 28.13 & 13.86 & 10.10 \\ b6 & 66.30 & 98.75 & 135.68 & 0.08 & 7.81 & 42.49 & 106.29 & 65.34 & 51.37 \\ b7 & 2.52 & 9.39 & 0.58 & 0.26 & 4.96 & 10.91 & 16.13 & 6.39 & 5.95 \\ b8 & 35.95 & 253.94 & 59.09 & 17.15 & 32.62 & 86.76 & 128.87 & 87.77 & 82.50 \\ b9 & 16.12 & 234.01 & 23.58 & 31.48 & 9.82 & 91.44 & 72.15 & 68.37 & 79.07 \\
10 & 1.33 & 0.26 & 0.21 & 0.12 & 0.29 & 0.38 & 2.33 & 0.70 & 0.83 \\
11 & 0.16 & 0.05 & 0.01 & 0.02 & 0.02 & 0.19 & 0.64 & 0.16 & 0.23 \\
12 & 0.31 & 0.06 & 0.15 & 0.02 & 0.02 & 0.20 & 0.59 & 0.19 & 0.20 \\
13 & 0.03 & 0.14 & 0.02 & 0.01 & 0.02 & 0.02 & 0.11 & 0.05 & 0.05 \\
14 & 0.009 & 0.005 & 0.01 & 0.004 & 0.048 & 0.02 & 0.0 We found that the exposure of hands, which refers to the sum of the exposure of the left and right gloves plus that of the handwashing solution, was considerably greater than other body parts. This is different from the results of [PERSON] et al. [15,24]. While [PERSON] et al. [27] showed that when spraying high places with a spray gun, the most contaminated sections were hands. This could be attributed to the different types of application equipment used. In our experiments, the applicator needed two hands to hold the sprayer in order to work properly, and the hands were the only body part in direct contact with the applicator. High pressure can cause pesticide liquid overflow in the connection between the hose and spray lance onto the hand. Further, most of the pesticide liquid sprayed from the nozzle, but liquid flow along the spray lance to the hand was possible. In addition, any problems that occurred during the application process needed to be addressed using both hands, such as pulling a hose for pesticide delivery, and handling the leakage of pesticide [28,29]. The high exposure level of shins may be due to a large number of pesticides deposited on the ground weeds during the application of pesticides into the base of apple trees [30,31]. In addition, handlers needed to walk through the weeds in order to facilitate the application of pesticides [25]. These results are similar to those obtained by [PERSON] et al. [32], who reported when spraying onto lower crops (about 80-100 cm high), workers are exposed while moving.