UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI

FACULTY OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

MSc. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER AND ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY

SUSTAINABILITY TOOLS
EXPOSURE ASSESMENT, CHOLOTHALONIL

SILVA, YURI
PHAM, TUNG
GUSTAVINO, PAUL
BOCANEGRA RECINOS, FRANCISCO JOSE

TARRAGONA, DECEMBER 22, 2017

Contents

1 Environmental Exposure ...................................................................................................... 3

1.1 Objective ....................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Crop .............................................................................................................................. 3
1.3 Commercial Use ........................................................................................................... 3
1.4 Methodology for spreading product ............................................................................. 3
1.5 Pathways to exposure.................................................................................................... 3
1.6 Methods of exposure ..................................................................................................... 3
1.7 Quantity of fungicide .................................................................................................... 4
2 Population in contact of the product .................................................................................... 4
3 The highly exposed groups, and highly susceptible groups. ................................................ 4
4 Discussion and Conclusions ................................................................................................. 5
5 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 6
1 Environmental Exposure

1.1 Objective

The objective of this report is to carry out an exposure study of chlorothalonil on a 10 hectare
tomatoes plantation. Furthermore, we will be analyzing significant sources of exposure,
assessed population and some modeling and exposure mathematical analysis.
1.2 Crop

Considering a tomatoes plantation with 10ha (100.000m2, 24acre)

1.3 Commercial Use

The commercial Chlorothalonil used is BAYER CHLOROTHALONIL 500 SC, fungicide with
a composition of 500g/L [1]
1.4 Methodology for spreading product

The fungicide should be applied in a rate of 2 to 3 pints per acre (~1,5L), mixed with water and
should be applied manually due to the size of the crop with a 15L sprayer.
It should be spread every 7 to 10 days. [1]
1.5 Pathways to exposure

The main sources of environmental exposure of the chlorothalonil are through water,
air, soil and plants.
1.6 Methods of exposure

The possibilities of exposure of the fungicide are:

 The wind could blow the chlorothalonil to the farmers skin or eyes
 Oral intake especially if the farmers hands were not washed after appliance
 Skin during clothes changes also if the hands were not washed
 `Non-protected parts of face skin
For that reason, the protective equipment’s demanded are:
 Gloves for hand protection
 Boots for feet and legs protection
 Impermeable clothes
 Mask for respiratory protection
 Googles for eye protection
1.7 Quantity of fungicide

The quantity needed of BAYER CHLOROTHALONIL 500 SC for 24 acres would be 210L and
it will contain 105kg of chlorothalonil. [1]

2 Population in contact of the product

The population that we asses is taken in consideration a middle farm with tomato plantation
area of 100000 m2 (10ha). The amount needed per ha of this fungicide is 3 pints (1.5 litres)
and the density of this fungicide is 1.24 g/cm3 so the kg of BAYER CHLOROTHALONIL
500 SC needed are 18.6 kg. [1] This amount is mixed with 983 US gallons (3721 litres) in
order to get a concentration of 0.2% of chlorothalonil. The farmers start to use it in the 9th
week which is the beginning of harvest process, that's to protect tomato seeds and growth
process of tomato from bacteria and fungi. It used only for 5 weeks (once a week). [2]

Furthermore, 7-10 days are necessary between spraying chlorothalonil on foliage again, and 7-
14 days for the tomato. Chlorothalonil effectiveness can last for days so that's why we spray
every several days, also to reduce the over chemicals use on tomato. The amount used in every
time is 1.5 per ha. [3]

3 The highly exposed groups, and highly susceptible groups.

On this farm, tomatoes are grown throughout the year from February to December using
different types of tomatoes plants depending on the season. It is assumed that the time a
farmer needs to apply fungicides by hand is 1 hour per 400 m2, so to make 10 hectares a
person needs 250 hours of work. We assume that there are 25 people working on this farm, so
the exposure time is 10 hours for a person to spray fungicides.

The harvest time, from seed placement to picking and eating, goes from 60 to 90 days.
Therefore, it is considered as 3 harvest cycles per year. Each harvest cycle requires 5 days 6
hours chlorothalonil, so farmers will be exposed for about 15 days per year. We also assume
that every farmer is 25 years old and they will work on this farm until 60. The farmers would
have an estimate time of 35 years of exposure
The basis for the exposure assessment of Chlorothalonil is to find out whether this chemical can
be harmful to humans. This will help us determine what the appropriate method to act is with
regards to the chemical Chlorothalonil. To do this without endangering human lives models can
be used but in order for these to be effective we need to determine certain parameters.
These are: Pathways, magnitude, frequency, extent, character and duration of the exposure.
Pathways must be determined by the person using the model but can include things such as
ingestion or inhalation depending on what is most likely. In the case of Chlorothalonil both are
likely. The magnitude will depend on how strong the exposure is, this means that the farmer is
likely subject to a much higher dose than the consumer. Frequency is like magnitude in that the
farmer Is likely much more concerned, as it is how often you are exposed. Duration on exposure
is how long one is in contact with the substance. To determine these values and properly quantify
them to use them in our model surveying of the land will be necessary. This may take years so
it is important to warn the public so that they know there may be a risk.
Monitoring of the area where the Chlorothalonil is being dispersed will also be important as this
will help us determine where the chemical is moving and who is likely to be affected.
It is important however to understand that a model is not a clear definite answer just an accurate
suggestion. This means we should use the results of our model to target specific groups of people
that our model has highlighted to see if they have been impacted in harmful ways by the
chemical. In this way, we can consistently improve on our model by checking how reliable it is.
A commonly used method is the monte Carlo method, which is where random sampling is used
to obtain numerical results. This method of modeling is mainly used in three distinct problem
classes: optimization, numerical integration and probability distribution. In our case we would
like to use it for a problem of probability distribution to determine where the Chlorothalonil is
likely to impact humans.

4 Discussion and Conclusions

Chlorothalonil is an important fungicide that help prevent diseases in plantations, in this specific
case tomato plantations, but is well known that can cause different effects in the health of the
population that manipulates the product.
For the exposure of the product, the UK Predictive Operator Exposure was use. The program
gives information of the quantity of chlorothalonil that the operator would be expose in an
specific use.
Figure 1 shows the data input in the program to be analyses. As explained before the assumption
of the use a 15l tank for the application. As a method of safety, the use of gloves for the mixing
and gloves and impermeable during application are mandatory. Bayer specify for tomatoes
plantations is better to use 1.5l/ha of chlorothalonil and 500l/ha of water. As explained in
population section worker would work 6 hours at 0.25ha per day. Also, as explained by Bayer
the dermal absorption is 1.5% from product and 1% from spray.
With this information, the program calculates the information exposed in figure 2.

The results show the exposure of the operator in mg bw/kg day, as shown each worker would be
exposed to 0.0072 mg bw/kg day.
Also, figure 2 shows that %AOEL is only 80%, this means that chlorothalonil doesn’t exceed
the acceptable Operator Exposure Level (0.009 mg/kg bw /day) [1]. The farmers would be safe to
exposure if the adequate safety protection is used correctly.
Operator exposure 0.0072 mg/kg bw /day < AOEL 0.009 mg/kg bw /day.
The conclusion after using the UK software is that workers in this specific plantation can be
safe of exposure as shown in figure 2.

5 Bibliography

1. http://www.bayercentral.com.au/resources/uploads/label/file7420.pdf
2. [https://mountainhort.ces.ncsu.edu/fresh-market-tomato-breeding/cultivars-and-breeding-
lines/]
3. [http://www.tomatodirt.com/apply-fungicide.html]