';
Pesticide Application Requirements
- Know the trade names and active ingredients for the pesticides you are using. Be familiar with the first aid treatments, especially anything unique, before you store or handle pesticides.
- To protect your workforce, comply with the US EPA Worker Protection Standard (WPS) that is administered by Washington Departments for Agriculture and Labor & Industries. The section of the label that addresses WPS is the Agricultural Use Requirements section. The regulation requires notifying employees about pesticides applied, training those employees, monitoring the handling of highly toxic pesticides, providing handlers clean PPE, and providing emergency transportation for any exposure of concern.
- WPS classifies employees as workers if they could be exposed while working in vineyards that were treated in the past 30 days.
- WPS classifies employees as pesticide handlers if they mix, load, apply, or conduct maintenance on application equipment because they have the possibility of direct exposure to pesticides while working.
- The website http://pesticideresources.org has WPS resources to assist grower’s in their understanding of their responsibilities and has training information and tools.
- Agricultural pesticide labels state a Restricted Entry Interval (REI) for each crop. This REI is a time when no entry is allowed into the treated area, unless the person is provided extra protection as detailed in the regulations and on the label.
- All production agricultural pesticides state the restricted entry interval (REI), and it’s usually in the “Agricultural Use Requirements” section of the label.
- Workers may enter treated fields before the end of the restricted entry period if they wear protective clothing and if they are trained as “early entry workers.” Protective clothing items required for early entry are stated on the label.
- Warnings must be given to workers who are expected to work in treated fields within 30 days of the application. Warnings may be given orally, or by signs at the usual entrances to the field, and must be written in a language the workers understand. It is the responsibility of the owner or lessee of the treated field to see that workers comply with the standards.
- With any pesticide, unprotected persons must not be allowed in areas being treated, and employees, other than those involved in the application, must not be exposed to drift.
- Pesticide labels state the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to be worn when handling or applying pesticides.
- At a minimum, long sleeved shirt and long pants are required to protect your skin from exposure; usually waterproof gloves too.
- If there is an added risk due for the product, the label may require a coverall be worn over short sleeved shirt/short pants or long sleeved shirt/long pants. The coverall can be a standard cotton or cotton polyester coverall; some opt for a disposable coverall to reduce laundering hassles.
- To protect eyes, wear safety glasses with brow and side covers, a face shield, or goggles.
- Waterproof gloves and boots may be required; reusable nitrile gloves meet most label requirements.
- Lastly some products may require a respirator to filter out particulates or vapors/gasses from contaminated air. Obtain a NIOSH-certified respirator, and if needed, the appropriate chemical cartridge (most often an organic- vapor cartridge).
- Dispose of any PPE that cannot be cleaned. Wash all other PPE at the end of the task.
- Be aware of heat illness. Washington Labor & Industries has Outdoor Heat Exposure regulations for agriculture (WAC 296-307).
- By wearing PPE, your body does not cool as well. Schedule pesticide applications during the cooler parts of the day.
- L&I thresholds at 89°F, 77°F, and 52°F depending on the number of layers of clothing a person is wearing and if the layer is non-breathable, like a rain suit.
- Acclimatization, drinking water, and illness-awareness are the main requirements.
- Some insecticides are organophosphates or carbamates. They have caused poisonings in Washington from unintended exposures during routine tasks. If either type of insecticide product has the signal word of Warning, Danger/Poison or Danger and they are handled (mix, load, apply) for more than 30 hours in a 30 day period, the Washington Dept. of Labor & Indus- tries (WAC 296-307-148) requires a medical monitoring program.
- This is a blood testing protocol to monitor for exposures to reduce the chance on an accidental poisoning and to assist with treatment.
- A pre-season blood test determines your normal cholinesterase activity level.
- If symptoms occur, seek medical treatment immediately and they will retest your levels. There are antidotes to treat a poisoning; however, they are only administered by a medical professional.
Pesticide Use Precautions
- Keep soap and water available for emergency decontamination for an unexpected exposure, such as from a broken hose.
- Do not use your cell phone, smoke, chew tobacco, or eat while spraying or while your hands are contaminated with concentrate products or a spray batch.
- Mix pesticides according to label directions and apply at the recommended rate.
- Collect spilled material and absorbent for later use or hazardous waste disposal. Wash the contaminated area with soap and water. The breakdown of insecticides can be accelerated by using a weak lye solution.
- Most pesticide labels prohibit applications during temperature air inversions. Inversions happen typically in the late afternoon as the air cools and settles, then lasts through the night and early morning. It does not dissipate until the sun warms the soil the next day and air starts to move around again. During an inversion, air cannot mix vertically, and spray particles may be carried horizontally for a great distance. New inversion meters are available to assess conditions. Unfortunately to combat the concerns for heat stress, the coolest time of the day is best to apply—just make sure there is no inversion.
- Cover or remove food and water troughs when spraying around livestock areas. Avoid contamination of fishponds, irrigation canals, streams, and lakes. Check wind direction with a hand-held weather station or anemometer often when applying in sensitive areas.
- Avoid drift of pesticides to other crops. Again, check wind direction often. Check equipment function, particularly look for leaks and malfunctioning nozzles.
- Given changing wind conditions, plan your application to keep the spray moving away from you and if the wind changes, change your strategy.
- Pesticides that persist for long periods of time in the soil may injure susceptible crops planted the following year and may result in illegal residues. Observe label restrictions concerning the intervals and crops which may be grown in treated soils.
- Some pesticides may cause plant injury under certain conditions or on certain varieties. Be sure the material is recommended for use on the plant to be treated and that conditions are favorable for application.
- Some processors may not accept a crop treated with certain pesticides. If crops are going to a processor, be sure to check with their field representative before applying pesticides.
- When a permanent vineyard crop cover has flowers, the cover must be mowed before spraying insecticides that are toxic to bees, and to protect all pollinators.
Pesticide Storage Precautions