Gender differences in acute pesticide-related illnesses and injuries among farmworkers in the United States, 1998-2007

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beckman J ; Bonnar-Prado J ; Calvert, Geoffrey M. ; Diebolt-Brown B ; Gergely R ; Kasner EJ ; Keralis JM ; Lackovic M ; Lee S-J ; Mehler L ; Mitchell Y ; Moraga-McHaley S ; Mulay P ; Roisman R ; Schwartz A ; Waltz J
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Farmworkers have a high risk for acute pesticide-related illness and injury, and the rate among female farmworkers is approximately twice as high as that among males. Surveillance data were used to identify reasons for this gender difference. METHODS: We identified acute pesticide-related illness and injury cases among farmworkers from the Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks (SENSOR)-Pesticides Program and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Gender-specific associations with acute pesticide-related illness and injury were assessed using chi-square tests. National Agricultural Workers Survey data were also examined. RESULTS: The over-representation of females among farmworker illness and injury cases was confined to females who did not handle pesticides (non-handlers). Female non-handler farmworkers who were affected were more likely to be working on fruit and nut crops, to be exposed to off-target pesticide drift, and to be exposed to fungicides and fumigants compared to males. CONCLUSIONS: Although there is an increased risk for acute pesticide-related illness and injury among female farmworkers, the absolute number of farmworkers with acute pesticide-related illness and injury is far higher among males than females. Furthermore, farmworkers have little or no control over many of the identified contributing factors that led to illness and injury. Stringent enforcement of existing regulations and enhanced regulatory efforts to protect against off-target drift exposures may have the highest impact in reducing acute pesticide-related illness and injury among farmworkers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Farmers Fungi Fungicide, Industrial Hazardous Substances Insecticides Men Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Poisoning Safety Women

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• Keywords:
  Acute-toxicity Agricultural-chemicals Agricultural-industry Agricultural-workers Agriculture Author Keywords: Pesticides Employee-exposure Farmworker Foodstuff Fumigants Fungicides Gender Differences Information-retrieval-systems Pesticide-residues Pesticides Pesticides-and-agricultural-chemicals Poisoning Poisons Regulations Surveillance-programs

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Florida ; Iowa ; Louisiana ; Michigan ; New Mexico ; New York ; Ohio ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6 ; OSHA Region 7 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Texas ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  55
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040738
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2012 Jul; 55(7):571-583
• Contact Point Address:
  Geoffrey M. Calvert, MD, MPH, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 4676 Columbia Parkway, R-17, Cincinnati, OH 45226
• Email:
  jac6@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  Texas State Department of Health Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20060701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20160630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:612e4d2419b8823b1ed80a749d7244d3c6b3c1cb2dbc0f999f3cb44943dae7243528cbba0dc905ba517816154b3bd374b3113cf5d165f5c954017fd59e6ff0af
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193499/cdc_193499_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 192.31 KB ]