pesticide exposure in farmworker homes

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Pesticide Exposure High in Migrant

Workers                                                

Housing, proximity to fields, lack of safety guidelines seen as

cause                     

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

By Janice

Billingsley                                                                 

    

HealthDay

Reporter                                                                    

    

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

FRIDAY, Dec. 12 (HealthDayNews) -- Migrant workers, often living in

substandard

housing   

and near the fields where they work, are at high risk for overexposure to

pesticides, says

a Wake Forest University

study.                                                           

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

In a study of 41 families living in North Carolina and Virginia who had at

least one      

family member employed in harvesting tobacco, food or Christmas trees,

researchers found  

both agricultural and residential pesticides were present in 95 percent of the

homes.     

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

" These families have greater exposure than is typical of the U.S. population, "

says Sara  

Quandt, a professor of public health at Wake Forest and co-author of the

study,

which     

appeared in the Nov. 12 online edition of Environmental Health

Perspectives.              

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

An essay on the topic also appears in the Dec. 13 issue of The

Lancet.                    

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

Quandt and her Wake Forest colleague, A. Acury, wiped childrens' hands,

their toys 

and the floors of the homes they studied. In addition, they took urine samples

from the   

families. They found traces of eight agricultural pesticides and 13 pesticides

commonly   

found in homes. The latter, called residential pesticides, are most often used

for bug    

control, she

says.                                                                        

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

A number of factors put migrant workers at higher risk than the general

population, Quandt

says. The workers tend to live near to the farms where they work, and sprayed

agricultural

pesticides drift into the homes. Also, they carry the agricultural pesticides

on their    

clothing and skin into their

homes.                                                       

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

Moreover, their houses " are frequently, though not always " in poor repair, she

says. Holes

in the walls or floors and/or lack of screens mean that bugs have easy entry,

and cramped 

quarters with too much furniture and little storage space makes cleaning

difficult. To    

keep the bugs at bay, families tend to resort to strong residential

pesticides,

and this  

is where education is

needed.                                                             

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

" Pesticide safety education focuses on the workplace and on agricultural

pesticides, but  

not on the home, " she says. " Federal requirements mandate that workers must be

trained,   

but the family is not required to be trained, and we need to develop

educational materials

for the community to use themselves to protect their

families. "                            

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

Quandt says that the Worker Protection Standard mandated by the Environmental

Protection  

Agency a decade ago requires that migrant workers be instructed in standard

hygiene --    

such as washing after work, keeping work clothes separate from regular

clothes,

and       

recognizing the posters that must be hung where pesticides are being used in

fields.      

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

What's also needed are guides to help families use less pesticides in their

homes, Quandt 

says.                                                                       

              

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

" Infestation should initially be controlled minimally, " she says. " Fix leaky

pipes,       

because bugs are drawn to water, keep food locked up, repair screens. Then go

to sticky   

paper and traps. Pesticide use should be the last

resort. "                                 

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

The agricultural pesticide residue the researchers found included

organophosphates, which 

are non-persistent pesticides, meaning that they break down in the

outdoors.              

Unfortunately, Quandt says, they don't break down when inside the house, so

they can      

linger on indoor surfaces for a long

time.                                                

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

Pesticide residues are associated with many problems, Quandt says, from overt

physical    

symptoms such as tearing and diarrhea to neurological problems, including

memory loss.    

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

" We are concerned particularly about children, " she says. The study only

looked

at houses 

with children under 7 years of

age.                                                       

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

More

information                                                                 

         

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offers tips for reducing childrens'

risks for    

exposure to pesticides. You can also go there to learn about Worker Protection

Standard.  

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

SOURCES: Sara Quandt, Ph.D., professor, public health, Wake Forest University

Baptist     

Medical Center, Winston-Salem, N.C.; Dec. 13, 2003, The Lancet; Nov. 12,

2003,            

Environmental Health Perspectives

online                                                  

                                                                            

               

                                                                            

               

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