Protective Clothing for Pesticide Applicators

Project Highlights

Research on protective clothing for pesticide applicators at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore is part of the NC-170 Multi-state project. Over almost two decades, the projects have progressed from simpler studies to studies for which data were collected for over 100 fabrics that required set up of a database to manage the data. Graduate and undergraduate students from various disciplines have contributed to testing as well as to assisting with the development of online systems. A brief description of the work that has been conducted in this area is below:

Online Modules: An extensive database with data for over 130 fabrics from many countries has been developed at UMES. An online system was developed to access technical information for the fabrics. A new prototype system has been developed for data entry, data management, and dissemination of information.

National and International Standards: Studies have been conducted to refine methodology to assess performance of protective clothing for pesticide users. These studies have been used for the development of ASTM International and ISO standards to measure the penetration of pesticides through textile materials. The researcher serves as the task group chair for the development of an ASTM performance specification standard and project leader for the development of ISO performance specification for protective clothing for pesticide applicators.

Protective Clothing for Hot Climates: Numerous studies have been conducted on the use of repellent fabrics as alternatives for the impermeable materials in hot and humid climates. The project researcher has been collaborating with the European Crop Protection Association on protective clothing assessment for pesticide applicators.

Funding: USDA, CSREES Evans Allens funds and other funding sources 
Contact: Dr. Anugrah Shaw, ashaw@umes.edu