Pesticides
Pesticide Safety
Farmworker Justice Files Comments in Support of Bilingual Pesticide Labeling
Health & Safety - Pesticide Safety
Farmworker Justice filed comments today with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in support of requiring pesticide labels to include Spanish translations. The EPA is considering this proposal in response to a petition by Farmworker Justice and the Migrant Clinicians Network. The comments were filed on behalf of a diverse coalition of 55 farmworker, environmental, labor, and civil rights organizations, and we urge the EPA to take this long-overdue step to protect farmworkers’ health and the environment.
Pesticide labels communicate crucial information, including warnings and precautionary statements, first aid instructions, what personal protective equipment (PPE) should be worn, and directions for safe use. Currently, most agricultural pesticide labels are only in English. However, the majority of farmworkers are native Spanish speakers, and over half of them cannot read English. When farmworkers cannot read safety instructions, they are at higher risk for pesticide exposure, and their communities are at risk for pesticide contamination resulting from improper use of the chemicals.
Language barriers are significant factor in pesticide exposure. In a recent study in Washington State, pesticide handlers who could not read English were more likely to be exposed to pesticides than those who could read English. In addition, farmworkers need to be able to read pesticide labels in case of emergencies.
“For far too long, farmworkers, their families, and their communities have suffered needless and avoidable injury and environmental damage as a result of not having access to pesticide safety information in the language that they can read and comprehend,” said Bruce Goldstein, President of Farmworker Justice. “Now is the time for the EPA to correct this serious regulatory shortcoming.”
Manufacturers routinely translate pesticide labels into Spanish to export their products to Mexico and other Latin American countries, and they already translate labels on Restricted Use Pesticides (RUPs) in order to sell them in Puerto Rico. The cost of translating safety directions on pesticide labels is slight in comparison with the human health and environmental costs. Farmworker Justice urges the EPA to require Spanish labelling of pesticides immediately in order to avoid any further injury to workers and their communities.
The dangers of pesticides for farmworkers
Health & Safety - Pesticide Safety
Pesticide Hazards and Incident Data
Pesticides pose risks of short- and long- term illness to farmworkers and their families. Workers who mix, load or apply pesticides (known as pesticide handlers) can be exposed to toxic pesticides due to spills, splashes, defective, missing or inadequate protective equipment, direct spray, or drift. Workers who perform hand labor tasks in areas that have been treated with pesticides face exposure from direct spray, drift or contact with pesticide residues on the crop or soil. Farmworker families can also be injured by pesticide when farmworker children play in treated fields, when workers inadvertently take home pesticide residues on their hair, skin or clothing or when pesticides drift onto outdoor play areas and get tracked into homes, etc.
Congress Enacts New Pesticide Safety Research Program in Farm Bill
Health & Safety - Pesticide Safety
Thursday, 08 October 2009
Farmworkers won a legislative victory when Congress passed a new pesticide research program in the 2008 Farm Bill. The purpose of the Farm Bill is to establish agricultural policies for a five-year period. The Farm Bill is best known for providing subsidies for producers of corn, cotton, peanuts and other commodities. It also authorizes spending for the Food Stamp program. While the Farm Bill often includes issues such as conservation and land management, farmworkers are rarely covered in this legislation.
Farmworker Justice now seeks appropriations to pay for the pesticide safety research to be carried out by government agencies and possibly private researchers. For a minimal investment, we can achieve enormous benefits to farmworker health and our health care system.
Read more: Congress Enacts New Pesticide Safety Research Program in Farm Bill
Monitoring Farmworkers' Exposures to Pesticides
Health & Safety - Pesticide Safety
Tuesday, 07 February 2006
Testing reveals continued widespread impacts of pesticides on farmworkers
Groups Issue Report Calling for Action to Protect Workers
The Farm Worker Pesticide Project, Columbia Legal Services, Farmworker Justice Fund, and United Farm Workers released a report today analyzing the 2nd year of Washington State's cutting edge medical monitoring program for farm workers. In 2005, one in 10 workers who regularly handled organophosphate or carbamate pesticides experienced significant depressions of cholinesterase, an essential nervous system enzyme. The pesticide Lorsban (chlorpyrifos) which is widely used in Washington State and elsewhere was implicated as a prime culprit associated with nervous system impacts, with Guthion (azinphos methyl) and other pesticides also implicated. All but one of 59 workers with significant depressions had applied the pesticides by airblast sprayer.
Indifference to Safety
Health & Safety - Pesticide Safety
Thursday, 29 January 1998
Indifference to Safety reviews the State of Florida's investigations into complaints of farmworker pesticide poisoning from January 1992 to mid-May 1997. An examination of the State's records shows glaring flaws in its enforcement of federal and state laws intended to protect the health and safety of the workers who cultivate and harvest fruits and vegetables. Consequently, this report recommends fundamental changes in Florida's system of enforcing pesticide protections for farmworkers.
