Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 6.9
Protective clothing ensembles.
Protection
Level
Description
1
Long-sleeved shirt and long-legged pants (cotton or cotton/ polyester overall),
and chemical-resistant gloves and shoes.
2
Cotton or cotton/polyester coveralls worn over a long-sleeved shirt and long-
legged pants, chemical-resistant gloves, chemical-resistant hat or hood, and
chemical-resistant boots.
3
Cotton or cotton/polyester coveralls worn over long-sleeved shirt and long-
legged pants, chemical-resistant gloves, chemical resistant boots, chemical-
resistant apron, and goggles or face shield.
4
Nonwoven, polyolefin coverall (worn over long-sleeved shirt and long-legged
pants), chemical-resistant gloves, chemical-resistant hat or hood, chemical-
resistant boots, and goggles or face shield.
5
Rubber or plastic-coated coverall (worn over underwear) with hood, chemi-
cal-resistant gloves, chemical-resistant boots, and goggles and half-face respi-
rator (or full-face respirator).
The five levels are suggestive of the levels of PPE that might be worn for
typical pesticide handler activities, as summarized in
Table 6.10
.
Note, how-
ever, that other combinations of PPE items may be used and, in many situa-
tions, may be more appropriate than any one of the five levels. There are too
many extenuating circumstances in agriculture for rigid specification of the
composition of the protective ensembles.
5.
PPE Performance
After the types of PPE components necessary for protection have been es-
tablished, one must pick specific PPE items that will satisfy the requirements.
The task begins by reviewing the information available for chemical resistance
and for physical properties. From this information, one selects the materials
of construction for the PPE items. For example, if the need is for hand pro-
tection and foot protection for >4 hours from a pesticide concentrate contain-
ing aliphatic petroleum distillates as the carrier solvent, then, with reference to
Table 6.6
, nitrile might be selected as the material of construction.
6.
Availability
After the types of PPE items and their materials of construction have been
determined, sources for the P P E must be identified. This step is accomplished by
reference to the appendices found in EPA's
Guidance Manual for Selecting Pro-
tective Clothing for Agriculture Pesticides Operations
. Each appendix con-
tains an extensive listing of commercially available PPE and is organized under
the subheadings of the materials of const ruction. The description of each
