Health Effects

Manganese-based Pesticides and their Potential Adverse
Health Effects in Idaho Agricultural Workers
Jessica Porter; Cynthia Curl, M.S, PhD
IDAHO USAGE OF MANGANESE BASED
PESTICIDES
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the potential for low-level exposure to organic
manganese among agricultural workers in Idaho and the potential
for such exposure to result in adverse health effects.
5
Idaho Crop Growing Regions and Respective Tons Produced for
Crops treated with Manganese Based Pesticides
MANGANESE AND MANGANESE BASED
PESTICIDES
Steel
Batteries
Inorganic
compounds
Ceramics
Naturally
Occurring
Element in
Environment
Pesticides
Organic
compounds
13
Diseases Treated:
• Late Blight, Pink Rot
Application Techniques and Frequency:
• Ground applications - Pesticides being applied to the foliar
portion of a plant or to the soil
- Spraying & in-furrow applications
- Preferred method for targeting leaves & canopy
• Protectant fungicides applied based on forecasting models and
just before row closure
- Subsequent applications made every 7-21 days before
harvest
• To control for late blight, sometimes same acreage receives 4
sprays in a season
6, 11
Diseases Treated:
• Cercospora Leaf Spot
Application Techniques and Frequency:
• Spray applications are used to treat this disease
- Treated almost every year in some areas of Idaho
• Protectant fungicides applied when diseases is increasing &
average of 0.5% of leaf surface is infected (12spots/leaf)
Combustion
Products
Fertilizers
7
Gasoline
Additive MMT
Onions
10
PRIMARY PESTICIDES CONTAINING
MANGANESE: FUNGICIDES
• Maneb
• Common trade names: ManKocide, Manex
• Mancozeb
• Common trade names: Evolve, Maxim MZ, Moncoat,
Manzate, Dithane, ManKocide, Pennzozeb, Ridomil Gold MZ,
Tops MZ, Acrobat MZ
6, 7, 8, 10
• Aids enzyme systems in catalytic and regulatory functions (Ex: formation of cartilage and
bone
Occupational
Routes of Exposure
• Inhalation of
manganese in dust,
fumes, or
particulate matter
in air
• Transported to
brain before being
metabolized by liver
• OSHA’s Permissible
Exposure Limit to
Manganese in air is
5mg/m3 in an 8
hour workday
Potatoes
Diseases Treated:
• Smut, bacterial leaf spot and blight, botrytis diseases, downy
mildew, purple blotch
Application Techniques and Frequency:
• Downy Mildew ranked as top disease concern by Idaho
Growers
• Commercial onion acreage – treated with herbicides, fungicides
and insecticides.
- Majority receive 2-3 applications/year of each
respective pesticide
- Foliar spray
8, 12
Low Level
Exposures;
Health Effects
• Decreased
performance on
neurobehavioral
tests
• Poorer hand-eye
coordination, head
steadiness, and
reaction time
• Poorer postural
stability
• Lower levels of
cognitive flexibility
9
9
High Level
Exposures;
Health Effects
2
9
• Manganism:
tremors, difficulty
walking, facial
muscle spasms.
• Manganese
induced
Parkinsonism:
symptoms similar to
Parkinson's disease
• Potential adverse
male reproductive
effects: impotence,
sexual dysfunction,
decreased libido
9, 10
CONCLUSIONS
• Manganese based pesticides are used in the production of the
following major Idaho crops to treat diseases: potatoes, sugarbeets,
and onions.
Late Blight
Sugarbeets
Dietary
Supplements
• Adequate intake (ingestion) of manganese for adults 19 and older is 2.3 mg/day for male
adults and 1.9 mg/day for female adults
Potatoes
Southeastern Idaho
Eastern Idaho
5,914,400 Tons for all
Magic Valley (South
regions combined
Central Idaho)
(118,288,000 cwt)
Treasure Valley
(Southwestern Idaho)
7
Sugarbeets
South Central Idaho
3,691,000 Tons
Treasure Valley
1,209,000 Tons
(Southwestern Idaho)
Upper Snake River
1,145,000 Tons
Valley (Eastern Idaho)
8
Onions
Southwestern Idaho
246,000 Tons
Northern Idaho
The potential for health effects from lower-level, subacute
manganese exposure, include decreased neuromuscular function,
decreased cognitive function, and poorer performance on
neurobehavioral tests. High level exposures can lead to manganism,
manganese-induced Parkinsonism, and impotence in men.
Manganese
• Naturally occurring element (however, does not exist in
elemental form in nature)
• Silver coated, odorless, tasteless
• Normally found as compound with Sulfur, Oxygen, or
Chlorine
10
• Essential nutrient for human health
Manganese as an Essential Nutrient
6
Maneb and Mancozeb are commonly used fungicides containing
Manganese, used in the production of three of Idaho’s primary crops:
potatoes, sugarbeets, and onions. Aerial spraying and ground
applications have the potential to result in worker exposures.
4
HEALTH EFFECTS
• Adverse health effects can result from lower level exposures to
manganese than levels related to the development of manganism.
• Aerial and ground application techniques of manganese based
pesticides multiple times per year may result in low level, subacute
exposures to Manganese that exceed what is needed for sustaining
human health.
3
• Idaho agricultural workers could potentially experience detrimental
health effects if these application techniques result in sufficient, low
level exposures.
Cercospora Leaf Spot
REFERENCES
1
Downy Mildew
(1)Downy Mildew Image. Retrieved from
http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5362264
(2)Late Blight Image. Retrieved from
http://nysipm.cornell.edu/publications/blight/
(3)Cercospora Leaf Spot Image. Retrieved from
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/C/D-SB-CBET-FO.007.html
(4)Manganese Image. Retrieved from
http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Inorganic_Chemistry/Descriptive_Chemistry/dBlock_Elements/Group_7%3A_Transition_Metals/Chemistry_of_Manganese
(5)Idaho Region Map. Retrieved from
http://www.visitidaho.org/press/assets/images/bgs/regional_map_bg.jpg
(6)Hirnyck, R., & Downey, L. (2007, July 7). Pest Management Strategic Plan
for Pacific Northwest Potato Production – REVISION. Retrieved from
http://www.uidaho.edu/extension/ipm/profiles
(7)Hirnyck, R., & Downey, L. (2005, August 8). Pest Management Strategic
Plan for Western U.S. Sugarbeet Production. Retrieved from
http://www.uidaho.edu/extension/ipm/profiles
(8)DeFransesco, J. (2004) Pest Management Strategic Plan for Dry Bulb
Onions in Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Retrieved from
http://www.uidaho.edu/extension/ipm/profiles
(9)Williams, M., Todd, G. D., Roney, M., Crawford, J., Coles, C., McClure, P.,…
Citra, M. (2012, September). Toxicological Profile for Manganese. Retrieved
from
http://search.cdc.gov/search?subset=atsdr&query=toxicity+profile+mangane
se&utf8=%E2%9C%93&affiliate=cdc-main&sitelimit=www.atsdr.cdc.gov
(10)U.S. EPA. (2007, October 7). Manganese TEACH Technical Summary.
Retrieved from
http://nlquery.epa.gov/epasearch/epasearch?typeofsearch=area&querytext=
Manganese&submit=Go&fld=region05&areaname=Toxicity+and+Exposure+A
ssessment+for+Children%27s+Health+%28TEACH%29&areacontacts=http%3
A%2F%2Fwww.epa.gov%2Fregion5%2Fteach%2Fteachcontact.html&areasear
churl=&result_template=epafiles_default.xsl&filter=samplefilt.hts http://
(11)Bechinski, E., J. (1998). Integrated Pest Management and the Idaho
Potato Industry – Results of Grower Surveys. Retrieved from
http://www.uidaho.edu/extension/ipm/practice/potatoIndustry
(12)Bechinski, E., J. (1998). Integrated Pest Management and the
Idaho/Eastern Oregon Onion Industry – Results of Grower Surveys. Retrieved
from http://www.uidaho.edu/extension/ipm/practice/onionIndustry
(13)ManKocide Image. Retrieved from
http://www.hortscience.com.au/assets/Uploads/makocide3.jpg