Viris Jirachaiyabhas, Parichart Visuthismajarn, and Mark G. Robson

pp. 161 - 170

Abstract

A questionnaire was developed to quantitatively evaluate the exposure to pesticides and to gauge the
concentration of organophosphate pesticides such as chlorpyrifos and methyl-parathion while the farmers of
Bang Rieng were spraying these pesticides. The results were applied to the exposure assessment and to compare the quantity of exposure to these pesticides between 33 traditional and 40 integrated pest management
(IPM) farmers of Bang Rieng. There was a significant difference in the level of exposure between the traditional farmers, who had the average pesticide exposure scores of 58.30 points and the IPM farmers, whose
average scores were 53.50 points, (p ≤ 0.015).
Concentrations of organophosphate pesticides chlorpyrifos and methyl-parathion were measured.
Thirty-three air samples were collected by personal sampling during the period of pesticide spraying. Traditional farmers were exposed to higher levels of the pesticide(s) with a mean concentration of 0.1865 mg/m³ compared to the IPM farmers who were exposed to a mean pesticide concentration of 0.037 mg/m³. It was
estimated that the farmers of Bang Rieng would be exposed to 186-19,616.6 mg of the organophosphate
pesticide(s) via inhalation throughout their lifetime (65 years). Moreover, according to the exposure assessment, the traditional farmers exposed to a greater amount of the pesticide(s) via inhalation compared to
the IPM farmers.