• Shehata, Terry
  State Toxicologist - Division of Disease Control - Bureau of Heath - Department of Human Services
  

Previous studies by the Division of Heath Engineering, Bureau of Health, Department of Human Services, have shown that carbaryl spray drift from the 1980 Spruce Budworm Project was found as much as 100 miles from the spray blocks (1). The potential maximum daily intake calculated from inhalation exposure was estimated to be 0.670 microgram/day during the spray period. This level was approximately 1/1000 of the "acceptable daily intake" for carbaryl set by the WHO/FAO in 1974 (2). The results indicated that the ambient levels of carbaryl did not pose a significant health problem to the general public.

Continued concern for the teratogenic and viral enhancement potentials of carbaryl and/or its formulations (3) prompted the inclusion of ambient air monitoring in the 1982 project to assess 1) the extent of the spray drift, and 2) the health impact of airborne carbaryl levels to the general population in spray-free areas of northern Maine. The following report is a summary of this assessment.