Density model for a pesticide exposure index applied to rural workers

Abstract

Since agriculture is one of the main productive activities in Córdoba province, Argentina, it is necessary that special attention be paid to the use of pesticides and their effect on the health of agro-applicators. One way to measure the consequences of the application of this type of substances is through the Index Level of Intensity at Exposure (IE), built by the Group of Environmental Epidemiology of Cancer in Córdoba, Faculty of Medical Sciences, UNC (GEACC), for the population of rural workers in Córdoba.

From a sample of rural workers, the empirical characteristics of the index were analyzed to infer about its population distribution. In the search for an adequate distribution for the intensity index, the models of the life variables were taken into account from the most traditional (exponential, Weibull, lognormal, gamma, Birnbaum-Saunders and inverse Gaussian) to the new distributions (Generalized Birnbaum-Saunders and Inverse Gaussian Type). In this work, the best fit for IE was achieved with the Weibull distribution. Once the best fit was defined, the percentiles were estimated, and three risk levels were defined (low, medium, and high). Based on these risk levels, sociodemographic and health characteristics of the workers within each group were studied. The following factors resulted the most significant to determine the risk of the applicators: the seniority (greater than 10 years) in the tasks of mixing, to apply or be present while it is handling pesticides, not to have an agronomist prescription, to inject animals and to present signs of irritation.