268 Pesticides are Poison
When you work in the fields
Make sure your equipment works properly
Check equipment for safety before you use it. Make
sure pesticide applicators are not damaged and will
not leak on you. Do not wear a cracked or broken
backpack sprayer or ripped or cracked gloves. If you
have a respirator, use it and change the filters every
day. Breathing any pesticide without a respirator can affect your health.
Most farmers and
farm workers cannot
get good protective
equipment. This is
one reason why using
pesticides is not safe.
Respirators and gloves are made
for men. They do not fit women’s
bodies or young people. Women
use pesticides as much as men,
so protective equipment should
protect them too. If it does not fit,
it does not protect.
Farm owners must provide washing facilities
If farm laborers use pesticides, it is the responsibility of farm owners to
make sure there are places for workers to wash themselves and their
clothing and equipment, as well as enough soap and clean water.
Wash yourself well and often
Wash your hands with water and soap before eating,
smoking, drinking, chewing gum or tobacco, touching your
eyes, nose, or mouth, and before going to the toilet.
After working, first clean under your fingernails and
toenails. Then wash your whole body with soap and cool water.
Wash your clothes with care after working with pesticides
Washing work clothes is one of the most important things you can do to
prevent pesticide poisoning. When work clothes are put back on without
being washed, the skin is exposed to pesticides.
After work, change clothing and put work clothes in a plastic bag to
protect the person who has to wash them (even if it is you).
Use clean water and soap, and wear gloves to protect your
hands. Do not wash pesticide-covered clothes in rivers. Never
bathe or wash anything in irrigation or drainage ditches. Try
not to touch the clothes without gloves, and wash your
hands afterward. Throw dirty water back onto fields,
away from drinking water sources.
Always wash work clothes apart
from regular and family clothes.
Wash small amounts of clothes at a time and
repeat until the pesticide stain or smell goes away.
Also wash boots, gloves, and hats in soap and water.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012