Pesticide Exposure

Damalas, C. A., & Koutroubas, S. D. (2016). Farmers’ Exposure to

Pesticides: Toxicity Types and Ways of Prevention. Toxics, 4(1), 1.
Introduction. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2018, from http://doi.org/10.3390/toxics4010001
http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/mph-
modules/exposureassessment/exposureassessment_print.html
Pesticide Exposure Reporting & Incidence
Recap
● Only 30 states require health professionals or
public health officials to report pesticide
poisonings.
● Only 12 of these states actually have the resources
and capacity to accurately investigate and
document reported cases.
● Approximately 8 pesticide exposure deaths per
year in the U.S.
● In 2014, there were 33.97 per 100, 000 exposures
to pesticide exposure.
Timeline
Successful Interventions
1. Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS)
2. The La Familia Sana Program
3. Para Niños Saludables
4. Sentinel Event Notification System For
Occupational Risk (SENSOR)
Socio Ecological Model

Source: Center for Disease Control, Socio Ecological Model

SENSOR- Organizational level
- Objective: to build and maintain occupational illness and injury
surveillance capacity within state health departments.

- Funding: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

(NIOSH) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

- Goals: This program’s primary purpose is to identify outbreaks and

emerging pesticide problems. NIOSH provides cooperative
agreement funding and technical support to state health
departments to conduct surveillance on one or more occupational
illnesses or injuries.
The La Familia Sana Program- Interpersonal
Level
- Objective: educate farmworker families about the health risks
associated with pesticide exposure.

- Funding: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Grant

& National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Grant

- Goals: reduce indoor and outdoor pesticide exposure to

farmworkers and their families, thereby allowing families to be
healthier, now and in the future. Provide information on adult and
child health as it relates to pesticide exposure in the farmworker
community
Agricultural Worker Protection Standard
(WPS)- Policy
- Objective: Level
to reduce the risk of pesticide poisoning and injury
among agricultural workers and pesticide handlers

- Funding: EPA

- Goal: implement stronger protections for agricultural workers,

handlers and their families. To inform, protect, and mitigate farm
workers and employees.

- EPA, State, or Tribal agency is in charge of making sure employers

and farmers comply to standards
Para Niños Saludables- Community Level
- Objective: To reduce exposure to organophosphate pesticide among
farm workers children.

- Funding: the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

and The EPA.

- Goal: The goals of the intervention was to use lay health educators
to inform the community of the risks of exposing children to the
pesticide and how to prevent pesticide exposure to children.
Public Health Pyramid

Source: Center for Disease Control

Pyramid Applied to EPA’s Worker Protection
Standard (WPS)
Counseling & Education-
The EPA’s Agricultural Worker Protection Standard uses Counseling and Education to
educate the workers and farm owners on how to use of pesticide applicators, as well
as how to use safety data sheets for applying the pesticides.
Clinical Interventions-
The EPA’s guidelines requires that there be given emergency assistance when needed
to farmworkers. The second clinical interventions is medical evaluation to handlers,
Changing the context-
The new guidelines from the EPA are changing the norms for the workers.
Long Lasting protective interventions-
The overall longest lasting impact intervention is the protecting from exposure
Socioeconomic Factors-
targets those in low income farm worker jobs to protect them; lack of education;
inequality; These guidelines will ultimately impact the health of the low socioeconomic
farm workers.
Health Educator Role & Responsibilities
References
World Health Organization. Training for the health sector. Retrieved from.
http://www.who.int/ceh/capacity/Pesticides.pdf

Thompson, B., Coronado, G. D., Vigoren, E. M., Griffith, W. C., Fenske, R. A., Kissel, J. C., . . . Faustman, E. M. (2008).
Para Niños Saludables: A Community Intervention Trial to Reduce Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure in Children of
Farmworkers. Environmental Health Perspectives,116(5), 687-694. doi:10.1289/ehp.10882

Damm, P. (n.d.). The Biological Production Facility—Design for Protection of the Worker and the Community.
Bioprocessing Safety: Worker and Community Safety and Health Considerations. doi:10.1520/stp26068s