12/28/05 Cholinesterase tests improve safety? Pt.2

Dan Fazio of the Washington Farm Bureau has been following that state's cholinesterase monitor program over the last two years, and says it hasn't necessarily assured improve safety for orchard workers in pesticide application. He notes that while it appears employers are having fewer workers apply pesticides, he believes that the issue is not necessarily safety but scheduling of employees to less than thirty hours to avoid cholinesterase monitoring. FAZIO: The Department of Labor and Industries and Department of Agriculture would say that's a good thing because they say that people that are exposed less have less change to get an acute exposure. I would say on the other hand that if you have many people doing the job, you are going to have some people who are not doing the job right. And Fazio says that might be one reason why monitoring evaluations went down from twenty two per cent last year to only eight per cent this year. Fazio adds that misleading monitoring data comes from the process of setting an annual baseline number prior to spray season, and then getting an accurate cholinesterase level reading. For example, cholinesterase in the blood stream can be depressed not just by pesticide exposure, but by other factors, such as alcohol or narcotic consumption. FAZIO: You should have your medical provider questioning the workers what over the counter drugs they're taking or what prescription drugs they are taking or kind of lifestyle changes they have if they see a depression.