RE: Request for Speakers for the 2007 Pesticide Worker Safety and Health Conference

[Guest guest]

Amy, I would like to come up with a new

term “Tierra Mash” This is soil contaminated with pesticide made

soluble by muddy soil. The issue the propensity of the pesticide to become

soluble and absorbed through the skin and eyes. Tierra Mash often stays on

shoes and clothing and on floors where children play and eat at times.

Tierra Mash can also intensify the

pesticide by condensing it in watered soil or mud.

Rene Quintana

Del Norte

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Amy K. Liebman

Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2007

8:37 AM

Subject: [ ]

Request for Speakers for the 2007 Pesticide Worker Safety and Health Conference

Request

for Speakers for the 2007 Pesticide Worker Safety and Health Conference

Protecting the Pesticide Workforce

The

Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Pesticide Programs will host a

Pesticide Worker Safety and Health Conference on October 2-4, 2007, in Arlington, Virginia. The conference

will provide an informational forum for federal and state agencies and private

sectors organizations involved in pesticide worker safety and health programs,

policies and research initiatives.

The

conference will focus on measuring the impact of current worker protection

initiatives and developing effective interventions where protective gaps

exist. The conference will also highlight the accomplishments of the

Agency’s worker protection initiatives in partnership with our

grantees. The Agency and its partners are committed to enhancing the

standards for protecting workers from harmful exposure to pesticides.

The

Agency is requesting presentation abstracts for the Pesticide Worker Safety and

Health Conference. Presentations relevant to the theme of improving

pesticide worker health, including: applicators, handlers, farmworkers and

their families are recommended and should fall into one of the following areas:

Administrative or policy solutions

Engineering controls

Education or training of workers

Risk communication

Role of surveillance and findings

Exposure assessment

Please

submit presentation abstracts to the Environmental Protection Agency by June 1,

2007. Send abstracts and inquiries to:

Worker_Safety_health_Conference@...

Presentation

abstracts should be 400 words or less and include:

presentation

title, intervention area (if applicable), content overview, and an estimate of

time needed; speaker, position, affiliation, and contact information.

Abstracts will be reviewed and prospective speakers will be contacted in June

2007.

Background

on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Pesticide Worker Safety Program

The Environmental Protection Agency's agricultural worker protection regulation

was designed to protect employees on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses

from occupational exposures to agricultural pesticides. The regulation

contains requirements for agricultural employers to protect their employees

through: pesticide safety training, notification of pesticide applications, use

of personal protective equipment, restricted entry intervals following

pesticide application, decontamination supplies, and emergency medical

assistance. The Environmental Protection Agency's certification of

pesticide applicators regulation sets standards of competency for commercial

and private applicators applying restricted-use pesticides. Implementing

these two regulations is a key part of the Agency's strategy for reducing

occupational exposures to pesticides. The Agency recently conducted an

assessment of the national pesticide worker safety program with an in-depth

review of the federal and state implementation and enforcement of the relevant

regulations. Representatives from farmworker advocates, the cooperative

extension service, commodity organizations, our state regulatory partners,

other federal agency representatives, pesticide industry and individual growers

met with the Agency to voice their concerns and give recommendations regarding

the implementation of the regulations. The numerous recommendations,

contained in a national assessment report are now being considered for

potential regulatory changes. The full report is posted on the EPA

website at:

http://www.epa.gov/oppfead1/safety/newnote/wksp4-training.pdf