Pesticide-Related Illness Among Migrant Farm Workers in the United States

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baron, Sherry L. ; Beckman J ; Das R ; Harrison, Robert ; Steege, Andrea L.
• Description:
  Surveillance data show that pesticide-related illness is an important cause of acute morbidity among migrant farm workers in California. A few categories (organophosphates and carbamates, inorganic compounds, and pyrethroids) account for over half of the cases of acute illness. Skin effects dominate the illnesses, although ocular and systemic effects are also common. Exposures occur in various ways (e.g., residues, drift), suggesting that the use of pesticides creates a hazardous work environment for all farm workers. The health care system provided through the Migrant Health Program appears to be underutilized, partially due to barriers to health care access. Pesticide hazards should be ranked based on acute toxicity, chronic toxicity (including reproductive risks), carcinogenic potency, volume applied, and magnitude of worker poisonings. Current surveillance effort should be supported. Risk prevention should focus on substitution of safer compounds, establishing effective protections, and ensuring that these measures. are enforced. Improved education for health care providers should be a priority. Growers should be educated about alternative forms of pest control and incentives should be provided to encourage their use. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Carbamates Farmers Hazardous Substances Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Inorganic Chemicals Insecticides Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Organophosphates Poisoning Risk Assessment Safety Urogenital System Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Agricultural-workers Disease-prevention Hazardous-materials Health-services Inorganic-compounds Occupational-diseases Occupational-exposure Organo-phosphorus-pesticides Pest-control Pesticides Pesticides-and-agricultural-chemicals Poisons Region-9 Regulations Reproductive-effects Risk-analysis Surveillance-programs Work-environment Worker-health

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• ISSN:
  1077-3525
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9
• 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
• Pages in Document:
  303-312
• Volume:
  7
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20021709
• Citation:
  Int J Occup Environ Health 2001 Oct-Dec; 7(4):303-312
• Contact Point Address:
  California Department of Health Services, Occupational Health Branch, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 1901, Oakland, CA 94612
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Performing Organization:
  California Department of Health Services, Occupational Health Branch, Oakland, California
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:859e5f1dd918d122518e39015970896b3620811c8572a692a160fff93020662bbb2d73f6b3dd9a6cb6b727f45e87d172b3a345c75e83e762b96eda792a248dea
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/198824/cdc_198824_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 88.08 KB ]