​Research on the application of pesticides brings together IAC/QUEPIA and a university in the United States

The next meeting of the World Committee of ISO – International Organization for Standardization -, in LEEDS, England, at the end of this month, will have space for agricultural science produced in Brazil. On the occasion, scientific researcher Hamilton Ramos, from the Engineering and Automation Center of the Agronomic Institute (IAC), an entity of the Department of Agriculture and Supply of the State of SP, will present a new work with an emphasis on the quality of clothing used in the application of agrochemicals.

Ramos, coordinator of the IAC/QUEPIA PPE Quality Program in Agriculture, developed in partnership with scientist Anugrah Shaw, from the University of Maryland, USA, a new data protocol aimed at certifying these garments.

Researcher responsible for the ISO 27065 Standard, the global base guideline for the certification of pesticide protective clothing, Shaw is in Brazil until the 07th. She will make use of the resources of an IAC laboratory, located in the Engineering and Automation Center (CEA), in the São Paulo city of Jundiaí, to evaluate new analysis methodologies that, together with the Brazilian scientist, will take to the ISO Committee, at the LEEDS meeting.

According to Hamilton Ramos, the CEA/IAC Jundiaí laboratory is currently the only one in Brazil, and one of the few in the world, capable of carrying out all the quality tests of the ISO 27065 standard.

“Some countries dispute the effectiveness of a specific herbicide in clothing safety tests. This factor, above all, makes it difficult to adopt the 27065 standard on a global scale. Together with Dr. Anugrah Shaw, we will present data involving other test liquids, in addition to an effective proposal aimed at global harmonization of quality analyses”, highlights Hamilton Ramos.

The two researchers dedicate at least twenty years of their careers to the study of protective clothing for pesticides. Both became known worldwide, mainly for their active participation in the creation of methodologies already validated by the ISO Committee. From now on, says Ramos, the pair of scientists will also begin researching the quality of protective gloves produced in Brazil and around the world.

Funded with private resources, the IAC/QUEPIA Program completed 10 years of activities in 2016. The agency's responsibilities include analyzing the raw materials used in the manufacture of clothing and granting the IAC Quality Seal to finished products.