An Occupational Heat Stress and Hydration Assessment of Agricultural Workers in North Mexico

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beamer PI ; Canales RA ; de Zapien JG ; Griffin SC ; López-Gálvez NI ; Wagoner RS
• Description:
  Expanding agribusiness in Northern Mexico has increased demand for workers from Southern Mexico, with hundreds of thousands migrating for work annually. Extreme temperatures, physical labor, and low fluid consumption place workers at risk for heat strain and dehydration, commonly underreported hazards in the agricultural industry. The objectives of this pilot study were to assess heat exposure and hydration status of a population of migratory agricultural workers in Northern Mexico throughout the grape harvest season. In addition to demographic information, environmental conditions, hydration status, and core body temperatures were collected. The majority listed Chiapas as their home state, nearly half spoke an Indigenous language, and none had completed high school. The wet-bulb globe temperature was significantly higher during the harvest and post-harvest seasons compared to the pre-harvest season. Across the different seasons, the majority were dehydrated post-shift, and mean core body temperature of workers was not significantly different. This project highlights the need for targeted interventions to improve hydration and prevent heat stress in this region. As the number of warm days is expected to rise each year worldwide, it will be increasingly important to engage in practices to protect vulnerable populations, such as migratory agriculture workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Climate Change Farmers Heat Stress Disorders Hot Temperature Occupational Health Safety Temperature
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Workers Author Keywords: Climate Change Body Temperature Climate Change Dehydration Farm Worker Farm Workers Heat Exposure Heat Strain Heat Stress Seasonal Factors Temperature Effects Thermal Stress

  More +
• ISSN:
  1660-4601
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Arizona ; California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  17
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20059155
• Citation:
  Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020 Mar; 17(6):2102
• Contact Point Address:
  Rietta S. Wagoner, Department of Community, Environment, and Policy, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
• Email:
  rwagoner@email.arizona.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• Performing Organization:
  University of California Los Angeles
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• End Date:
  20270630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:415aff288b0d9110bf669b734e50fd7fbe67a00360b95495daa3b397e1ed410a386147336613d5893b83af2c8ad5a09164f42b1fb1b94e6126a5cb1824a50882
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/223459/cdc_223459_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1018.28 KB ]