| Agricultural Task and Exposure to Organophosphate Pesticides among Farmworkers Gloria D. Coronado,1 Beti Thompson,1 Larkin Strong,1 William C. Griffith,2 and Ilda Islas1 1Cancer Prevention Research Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA; 2Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA Abstract
Little is known about pesticide exposure among farmworkers, and even less is known about the exposure associated with performing specific farm tasks. Using a random sample of 213 farmworkers in 24 communities and labor camps in eastern Washington State, we examined the association between occupational task and organophosphate (OP) pesticide residues in dust and OP metabolite concentrations in urine samples of adult farmworkers and their children. The data are from a larger study that sought to test a culturally appropriate intervention to break the take-home pathway of pesticide exposure. Commonly reported farm tasks were harvesting or picking (79.2%) , thinning (64.2%) , loading plants or produce (42.2%) , planting or transplanting (37.6%) , and pruning (37.2%) . Mixing, loading, or applying pesticide formulations was reported by 20% of our sample. Workers who thinned were more likely than those who did not to have detectable levels of azinphos-methyl in their house dust (92.1% vs. 72.7% ; p = 0.001) and vehicle dust (92.6% vs. 76.5% ; p = 0.002) . Thinning was associated with higher urinary pesticide metabolite concentrations in children (91.9% detectable vs. 81.3% ; p = 0.02) but not in adults. Contrary to expectation, workers who reported mixing, loading, or applying pesticide formulations had lower detectable levels of pesticide residues in their house or vehicle dust, compared with those who did not perform these job tasks, though the differences were not significant. Future research should evaluate workplace protective practices of fieldworkers and the adequacy of reentry intervals for pesticides used during thinning. Key words: applicators, farmworker, field worker, job task, occupational exposure, pesticide. Environ Health Perspect 112:142-147 (2004) . doi:10.1289/ehp.6412 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 22 October 2003]
Address correspondence to G.D. Coronado, P.O. Box 19024, 1100 Fairview Avenue N, MP-702, Seattle, WA 98109 USA. Telephone: (206) 667-4216. Fax: (206) 667-5977. E-mail: gcoronad@fhcrc.org We acknowledge the contribution of members of our community advisory board in designing and carrying out the project. We thank C. Curl, R. Fenske, and J. Kissel for processing the urine and dust samples for this study. The research described in this article has been funded in part by the by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (grant R826886) and the National Institutes of Health (grant P01 ES09601) , but it has not been subjected to either agency's required peer and policy review. The article does not necessarily reflect the views of either agency, and no official endorsement should be inferred. The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 25 April 2003 ; accepted 22 October 2003.
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