A Story of Impact: NIOSH-Funded Study Results in Improved Pesticide Testing Methods and Updated Regulations to Protect Agricultural Workers

Details

• Alternative Title:
  NIOSH-funded study results in improved pesticide testing methods and updated regulations to protect agricultural workers ; r2p
• Journal Article:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Agricultural workers use pesticides to protect crops from insects, weeds, and other pests. However, these chemicals can cause serious health problems, especially if handled, applied, or disposed of improperly. Each year, physicians diagnose 10,000-20,000 pesticide poisonings among the estimated 2 million U.S. agricultural workers. When workers mix, load, apply, or dispose of pesticides, these harmful chemicals can enter the body through direct contact with skin, eyes, and clothes; eating or drinking pesticide-contaminated food or water; and breathing pesticide-containing mist, dust, fumes, or smoke. Exposure to some pesticides inhibits cholinesterase (ChE) - an enzyme necessary for communication between nerves and muscles. The brain and nerves are unable to control the movement of muscles. A low level of ChE can cause slowing of the heart, muscle paralysis, shivers, headache, convulsions, and coma. Pesticide poisoning is also associated with brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agricultural Workers' Diseases Agriculture Cholinesterase Inhibitors Health Policy Insecticides Laboratories Nervous System Nervous System Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Pesticides Poisoning Safety

  More +
• Keywords:
  Humans; Workers; Worker-health; Work-practices; Agricultural-workers; Agriculture; Agricultural-industry; Agricultural-chemicals; Pesticide-residues; Pesticides; Pesticides-and-agricultural-chemicals; Cholinesterase-inhibitors; Poison-control; Poisons; Brain-disorders; Neurological-diseases; Neuromotor-disorders; Laboratory-testing; Analytical-methods; Testing-equipment; Measurement-equipment; Equipment-reliability; Performance-capability
• Source:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2015-182, 2015 May; :1-2
• Series:
  NIOSH Numbered Publications
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Handout/Flyer
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Georgia ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OD - Office of the Director
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  2 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046216
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6201aaf1dafb6736267cc241236b183b12e5b92c0d5f3c1eb5ff60bd763f2ef25267d931e5bbf92a04f1a7f5871a74133efe7637a5fb84e2fc78167eca1d151c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/31069/cdc_31069_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.04 MB ]