Decontamination of spills and residues of some pesticides and of protective clothing worn during the handling of the pesticides

Conference · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:567711

Armour, M A; Nelson, C

Users of pesticides may have waste or surplus quantities or spills for disposal. One alternative is to deactivate the pesticide at the handling site by using a straightforward chemical reaction. This option can be practical for those who use relatively small quantities of a large variety of pesticides, for example, greenhouse workers, small farmers, and agricultural researchers. This paper describes practical on-site methods for the disposal of spills or small waste quantities of five commonly used pesticides, Diazinon, Chlorpyrifos, Iprodione, 2,4-D, and Captan. These have been tested in the laboratory for the rate of disappearance of the pesticide, the degree of conversion to nontoxic products, the nature and identity of the products, the practicality of the method, and the ease of reproducibility. Methods selected were shown to be safe for the operator, reliable, and reproducible. Greater than 99% of the starting material had to be reacted under reasonable conditions and length of time. Detailed descriptions of the reactions are presented, so that they can be performed with reproducible results. Protective clothing worn during the handling and application of pesticides may become contaminated. Simple laundering does not always remove all of the pesticide residues. Thus, chronic dermal exposure may result from the pesticide-contaminated clothing. Appropriate methods of laundering using specific pretreatments have been determined. 7 refs.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
• OSTI ID: 567711
• Report Number(s): CONF-9611157--; ON: DE97009015
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SPILLS
PESTICIDES
PROTECTIVE CLOTHING
WASTE PROCESSING