The Alstroemeria cultivation is a year round culture.
There is seasonal variation and therefore extra (parttime)
employees are employed during busy periods. Although
A^^oemeria is the main crop, about half of the
growers cultivate other plants as well.
The most important activities are maintaining the crop,
harvesting and preparing the flowers for auction. To
maintain the crop, the top of the shoots have to be broken
off (heading down), thin, loose and/or old shoots have to
be removed (thinning out) and stalks leaning over the
path have to be placed between horizontal netting. To
prepare the flowers for auction, 10 flowers are sorted out
for a bunch, the lowest leaves of the bunch are removed
by a machine and the bunch is wrapped in a plastic sleeve.
The exposure of the hands to the sap is most extensive
during harvesting and thinning. The stalks of the flowers
can be cut off with a small knife or extracted with the
fingers. The mechanical and chemical insults to the skin
are less for extracting compared with cutting off with
a knife. A few years ago almost all cultivated varieties had
to be cut off, but recently more and more varieties
are bred which can be extracted. Other activities which expose the hands to sap are heading down, sorting out
and wrapping the bunch in a plastic sleeve.
In Alstroemeria cultivation a number of work-related
factors occur which might cause or contribute to the
existence of contact dermatitis: sap (tulipalin A: the allergen,
irritation, wetness of the skin: skin barrier damage);
pesticides (irritation, allergy); Alstroemeria varieties; other
plant material; use of gloves; use of soap; mechanical
insults (stalks of the flowers, knife, maintenance machinery,
soil); climatic circumstances (high temperatures,
high relative humidity) and dirt (plant material, soil).