Contaminated Clothing Washing with Pesticides

When working with pesticides, it's essential to take precautions to ensure both your safety and the longevity of your protective clothing. Here are some guidelines to follow:

Protective clothing made from materials such as nitrile, PVC, or other rubberlike compounds should be line-dried in the shade to prevent harmful sunlight from damaging the materials.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) should be worn when working with pesticides and laundered separately to prevent cross-contamination.
Contaminated clothing should not be dry-cleaned or washed in a public laundry facility. Instead, it should be disposed of following local or state environmental protection agency guidelines.
Suits made from plastic laminates, nitrile, or latex may melt if placed in a dryer. Therefore, it's best to hose off these suits and wash them in a tub of hot soapy water.
When laundering pesticide-contaminated clothing, avoid using bleach. Bleach can react with ammonia fertilizer, forming chlorine gas, which can be fatal.
Before laundering contaminated clothing, contact your local or state environmental protection agency or hazardous waste authority to ensure proper disposal of the contaminated wash water. The same advice applies to the disposal of contaminated rinse water.
Use 25 percent more detergent when clothing items have been treated with a soil/water repellent finish.
Some materials, such as leather boots, leather watchbands, inner bands on caps, and severely contaminated clothing, cannot be decontaminated through laundering.
Always read the pesticide label before laundering. The label will provide specific instructions for cleaning your protective clothing.
Wear gloves and other PPE to protect yourself from pesticide residues within the clothing. Rubber gloves should not be worn when handling pesticide-contaminated clothing.
After laundering, line-dry the clothing and clean the washing machine to prevent contamination of other clothing.
It is necessary to launder pesticide-contaminated clothing separately. Dry detergent should be used to clean dry formulations of pesticides, and a liquid detergent to clean liquid formulations.
False: Bleach should not be used in the laundering process, and false: pesticide residue cannot easily be removed from leather.
Contaminated coveralls should be treated the same way you would treat the pesticide. This means isolating them, wearing PPE when handling them, and following the guidelines for laundering or disposal.

By following these guidelines, you can ensure that you are protecting yourself and your clothing when working with pesticides. Always remember to read the pesticide label for specific instructions and consult with local or state agencies for proper disposal of contaminated materials.