**Assessment of Handler Exposure to Pesticides from Stretcher-Type Power Sprayers in Orchards**

**Zhinan Wang 1,**†**, Yuxi Meng 1,2,**†**, Xiangdong Mei 1, Jun Ning 1, Xiaodong Ma 2,\* and Dongmei She 1,\***


Received: 17 November 2020; Accepted: 2 December 2020; Published: 4 December 2020

**Abstract:** The production and export volume of fruits from China are among the top three in the world. Pesticides are applied to orchards more than 10 times a year to control pests, and stretcher-type power sprayers are widely used to apply chemical pesticides. However, an assessment of pesticide-handler exposure to pesticides in this scenario has not been reported in China. The test pesticide, 30% SYP-9625 concentrate diluted 3000 times, was sprayed on apple orchards in Beijing China. Experiments were conducted to assess dermal and inhalation exposure using standard whole-body dosimetry and air-sampling methodologies. The dermal deposition was the main route of exposure in this study. The dermal unit exposure (UE) of handlers was 350 mg·kg−<sup>1</sup> a.i. of SYP-9625. The hands accounted for 59% of the total exposure and were the most exposed body part. Inhalation UE was 0.720 mg·kg−<sup>1</sup> a.i. of SYP-9625 and was negligible compared with dermal exposure. We found that use of protective garments while using stretcher-type powers sprayers reduced dermal pesticide exposure. These results can be used as a reference for the handler's safety in pesticide managemen<sup>t</sup> and orchard mechanical management.

**Keywords:** inhalation exposure; dermal exposure; stretcher-type power sprayers; orchards
