CARBAMATE INSECTICIDE REMOVAL IN LAUNDERING FROM COTTON AND POLYESTER FABRIC

Pesticides provide a fast and effective method of controlling pests in our environment to increase agricultural production and protect people from diseases; however, many pesticide chemicals are toxic, persistent, and polluting. Clothing worn by individuals who work with pesticides can be contaminated during the preparation, transference, and application of pesticides. If the contaminated clothing is not laundered properly, pesticide residues remaining on clothing may be absorbed through the skin which can result in chronic exposure, illness, and even death. Therefore, it is necessary to use effective laundering procedures which can remove pesticide contaminants from clothing.;Previous laundering studies have focused primarily on the organophosphate and organochlorine insecticides. Few studies have evaluated laundering procedures that are effective in removing carbamate insecticides from contaminated textile items. Because of the potential toxicity of carbofuran and methomyl, and their popular use to control field crop insect problems in Kansas, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of various laundering procedures i.e., three detergents (All, Tide, and Wisk), and two laundering temperatures (60(DEGREES)C wash/49(DEGREES)C rinse, and 49(DEGREES)C wash/40(DEGREES)C rinse) in removing carbofuran and methomyl contaminants from the contaminated cotton and polyester fabrics. Percentages of insecticide residue remaining on fabrics after laundering were analyzed by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a fluorescence detector. The relative toxicity of the insecticide residues left on fabric after laundering was investigated by using a bioassay test method with Drosophila melanogaster Meigen.;The carbofuran contaminants could be readily removed by all laundering procedures investigated from the contaminated cotton and polyester fabrics. The methomyl contaminated cotton could also be cleaned easily by the laundering procedures investigated in this study. However, the interaction among polyester, methomyl and warm (or hot) laundering temperatures resulted in the highest percentage of insecticide residue remaining on laundered fabric. After 72 hours of bioassay test, mortality of fruit flies occurred on the methomyl-treated polyester fabric laundered in warm water. No fruit fly mortality was detected for the other fabric, insecticide and laundering temperature combinations. Consistant findings were obtained from the HPLC analysis and bioassay tests. Additionally, no significant differences were found among the three detergents investigated in this study.