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A Pilot Study of Respiratory and Dermal Symptoms in California Cannabis Cultivation Workers



Details

  • Personal Author:
  • Description:
    Cannabis (Cannabis sativa, marijuana) is the largest cash crop in California. While it is difficult to characterize the size of the industry, the total production is estimated at 15 to 16 million pounds per year, with total revenues exceeding $10 billion per year. Despite the huge size and rapid growth of the industry, there has been little research on the health and safety of cannabis workers. The goal of this pilot study was to explore the feasibility of collecting cannabis worker health data with a self-administered survey and to analyze the first systematically collected data on occupational health symptoms among California cannabis cultivation workers. We performed a cross-sectional survey of demographic and job characteristics as well as eye, nasal, respiratory, and dermal symptoms among 29 workers at two cannabis farms in the Sacramento area, California. Most participants were men aged less than 30 years, with 48% of participants self-identifying as non-Hispanic white and 58% reporting at least some college education. The most frequently reported work-related symptom was nasal irritation, and 38% of the participants reported symptoms suggestive of asthma. The participants had a demographic makeup distinct from traditional California agricultural workers, and a very high prevalence of current use of cannabis (93%). The high proportion of respondents with symptoms suggestive of asthma raises concern; sensitization to the cannabis plant has been reported among cannabis workers and users and there are many well-documented agricultural exposures causing asthma and asthma-like syndrome. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • ISSN:
    1059-924X
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Funding:
    Cooperative Agreement
  • Genre:
    Journal Article
  • Place as Subject:
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • Pages in Document:
    9 pdf pages
  • Volume:
    28
  • Issue:
    1
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20067463
  • Citation:
    J Agromedicine 2023 Jan; 28(1):28-35
  • Contact Point Address:
    Stella Beckman, Center for Health and the Environment, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
  • Email:
    sfbeckman@ucdavis.edu
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2023
  • NORA Priority Area:
    Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
  • Performing Organization:
    University of California - Davis
  • Peer Reviewed:
    True
  • Start Date:
    20010930
  • Source Full Name:
    Journal of Agromedicine
  • End Date:
    20270929
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:266e0c90c742a6a65cc058d89816e875e9f5cada6645cf4696d731ddd6ba4e1862b4998125b2ef2b0180912c38875b91e2b8daa260335d7ade3a6061acea531c
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 674.01 KB ]
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