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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Patrice M Sutton, MPH1, Rupali Das, MD, MPH2, Ximena Vergara2, John Beckman2, and Robert Harrison, MD, MPH2. (1) Public Health Institute, California Department of Health Services, Occupational Health Branch, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 1901, Oakland, CA 94612, 510-622-4382, psutton1@dhs.ca.gov, (2) Occupational Health Branch, California Department of Health Services, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 1901, Oakland, CA 94612
Pesticide illness among workers and community residents is intricately linked through common pathways of exposure. Worksites serve as the point source of pesticide releases into nearby communities and the environment; all populations share ambient air, drinking water and dietary pathways. Although the concentration and duration of exposures to pesticides vary between groups, both populations incur exposures that result in significant public health impacts. Economic and social costs of pesticide illness also directly impact on the well-being of workers, their families and other community members. The importance of these shared pathways of exposure and other occupational and environmental health linkages are often inadequately addressed in governmental and non-governmental approaches to exposure assessment, illness tracking, and prevention. This may result in decision-making based on faulty and incomplete data, and a reduced capacity to identify and implement effective prevention measures. The California Department of Health Services (CDHS), funded by NIOSH and US EPA, conducts state-wide tracking of work-related pesticide-illness. Examples from field investigations of pesticide illnesses conducted by CDHS will be presented to illustrate how multiple populations are impacted by the same application of pesticides. Case studies will be presented to illustrate the differential impact of various exposure control measures among workers and community residents. The need for primary pesticide-poisoning prevention measures that take into account all exposed populations, do not “shift the burden of exposure” to other populations, and do not introduce new hazards will be addressed.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Pesticide Exposure, Collaboration
Related Web page: www.dhs.ca.gov/ohb/AgInjury/Default.htm
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.