1,721,017 research outputs found
Il nuovo strumento EFSA per la valutazione dell’esposizione dell’operatore agricolo (AOEM 2012): confronto con i precedenti modelli
No full textRisk assessment and management of occupational exposure to pesticides in agriculture
No full textNearly 50% of the world labour force is employed in agriculture. Over the last 50 years, agriculture has deeply
changed with a massive utilisation of pesticides and fertilisers to enhance crop protection and production, food quality
and food preservation. Pesticides are also increasingly employed for public health purposes and for domestic use.
Pesticide are unique chemicals as they are intrinsically toxic for several biological targets, are deliberately spread into
the environment, and their toxicity has a limited species selectivity. Pesticide toxicity depends on the compound
family and is generally greater for the older compounds; in humans, they are responsible for acute poisonings as well
as for long term health effects, including cancer and adverse effects on reproduction. Due to their intrinsic toxicity,
in most countries a specific and complex legislation prescribes a thorough risk assessment process for pesticides prior to
their entrance to the market (pre-marketing risk assessment). The post-marketing risk assessment takes place during
the use of pesticides and aims at assessing the risk for exposed operators. The results of the risk assessment are the base
for the health surveillance of exposed workers. Occupational exposure to pesticides in agriculture concerns product
distributors, mixers and loaders, applicators, bystanders, and rural workers re-entering the fields shortly after treatment.
Assessing and managing the occupational health risks posed by the use of pesticides in agriculture is a complex
but essential task for occupational health specialists and toxicologists. In spite of the economic and social importance
of agriculture, the health protection of agricultural workforce has been overlooked for too many years, causing an
heavy tribute paid in terms of avoidable diseases, human sufferance, and economic losses. Particularly in the developing
countries, where agricultural work is one of the predominant job, a sustainable model of development calls for
more attention to occupational risks in agriculture. The experience of many countries has shown that prevention of
health risk caused by pesticides is technically feasible and economically rewarding for the individuals and the whole
community. A proper risk assessment and management of pesticide use is an essential component of this preventative
strategy
EFSA new guidance on endocrine disruptors: comments, critical aspects and a case study
No full textThe EFSA Endocrine Disruptors guidance has been developed to help assessors of the regulatory authorities on the definition of the scientific criteria for the determination of endocrine-disrupting properties in the context of Regulations (EU) No 16 528/2012 and (EC) No 1107/2009. The overall objective resulting from the present project was the compilation of a specific database for a pesticide active substance (named x) and its metabolites, which is comprising all available parameters that are considered relevant when investigating the ED properties. The database represented a practical tool to help assessors in assessing and analyze the evidence for endocrine disrupting properties. A useful-friendly client-side Form of the database was created. The Microsoft Access database was selected as suitable for this specific data collection due to the number of predicted records to be stored in and the ability of the toxicologist to work with this specific platform. To facilitate the data entry phase of the operators and to limit the data entry typos, most of the field were constrained with menu combo boxes and several queries were prepared to check the quality of the inserted data. The list of toxicity study type for mammalian toxicology and wild life toxicology comprises more than 10 different type of studies. Out of 55 studies that were scrutinized, 27 were performed on the active substance and 28 were performed on metabolites (4 metabolites) thus representing more than 50% of the total. In this particular case, the number of toxicity studies performed on metabolites was larger than normal; this is due to particular toxicity potential of three (non mammalian) metabolites that show higher chronic (specifically reproductive toxicity) toxicity than the parent. Studies on mammals (intact organism/cells) were 49 (23 on active substance and 26 on metabolites), while studies on wildlife (fish, amphibians) were 6 (4 on active substance and 2 on metabolites) Wilde life studies to investigate ED properties of active substances were not routinely performed in the past year. Please note that for substance X dossier year of study range from 1979 to 2012. Collection of data from substance x dossier represented a new exercise related to new approach for evaluating ED properties of active substances
Chemical-induced facial dismorphogenesis: A modeling approach to help understanding the mode-of-action
No full textRISK21: un innovativo schema per la valutazione del rischio e la sua applicazione al caso del glifosate
No full textDevelopment of a project for international harmonization of occupational disease identification and recognition
No full text
The Italian system of data reporting in agriculture occupational health : a critical appraisal
No full textBackground.Ariculture is one of the most hazardous sectors in both developing and industrialized countries. Agricultural workers suffer markedly higher rates of accidents and fatal injuries than other workers, with very few resources available for compensation. One of the difficulties in dealing with agriculture is that it is a very complex and heterogeneous sector. Due to inadequate and non-standardized recording and notification systems, official data on the incidence of agricultural occupational accidents and diseases are imprecise, notoriously underestimated, unsatisfactory and inadequate as an indicator for measuring the effect of interventions.
Aim. To explore the peculiarities of data reporting systems among agricultural sector focusing on the Italian situation.
Results. In recent decades far-reaching national efforts in the sector of occupational safety and health have led to redefinitions and shifts in national policies and priorities, with wide-scale involvement of public and social bodies, field experts, companies, trade unions, public and private insurance agencies. Even so, compared to workers in other sectors, agricultural workers are still under-protected. Conclusions. Occupational safety and health in agriculture need to be addressed with a well-defined strategy and must be integrated into a rural development policy. Integration into the primary health care structure is strongly recommended
- …
