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UC Agricultural Health & Safety Center at Davis

AgHealthNews

Issue Number 1998-03
Summer 1998

Published by the UC Agricultural Health & Safety Center at Davis, University of California, Davis, Marc Schenker, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Produced by EditPros, Davis, CA

 

1998-03-01 Table of Contents

1998-03-02 Welcome and Introduction

1998-03-03 Building partnerships to protect minors

1998-03-04 Hands-on pesticide safety training programs flourish

1998-03-05 Students present exposure assessment and safety hazard results

1998-03-06 Rural Health Forum: Health & safety advocates discuss issues and options

1998-03-07 Respiratory Studies: Renowned Canadian pathologist collaborates on Center project

AgHealthNews is an electronic version of the Center's quarterly newsletter. The Center has two electronic list servers that allow automatic forwarding of e-mail to a list of subscribers. One server is a forum for announcements and discussion of agricultural health and safety issues and the other is a vehicle for the automatic distribution of the Center's quarterly newsletter.

The e-mail addresses for the forum is: aghealth@epm.ucdavis.edu (message forwarding address) and aghealth-request@epm.ucdavis.edu (subscriber request address). The addresses for the newsletter are: aghealthnews@oem.ucdavis.edu (message forwarding address) and aghealthnews-request@oem.ucdavis.edu (subscriber request address).

To subscribe to a list, send an e-mail message to the request address with no subject and a one line message giving the option subscribe and your name. For example, to subscribe to the forum for announcements and general agricultural health and safety issues, you would send the following: To: aghealth-request@epm.ucdavis.edu Subject: Message: subscribe (your name here)

By return e-mail you will receive confirmation of your request and more information about using the list server request functions.

To subscribe to the On-line News, your request would look like: To: aghealthnews-request@oem.ucdavis.edu Subject: Message: subscribe (your name here)

Each year thousands of children are introduced to the world of work by helping on the family farm or working in the fields with their parents. Unfortunately, for some of these children their first work experience is also their last. More than 100 children are killed and nearly 100,000 injured in agriculture-related accidents each year. Many of these accidents may have been prevented through better awareness of the laws set up to protect young people at work. Children cannot, by law, work in many situations that are too dangerous, based on statistics and information gathered over the years. These laws were enacted to ensure that when children work, the work is safe and does not jeopardize their educational opportunities.

Farmworker's son, San Joaquin Valley, California
Photo courtesy of California Institute for Rural Studies

Enforced and administered by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, federal child labor regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act restrict children under age 14 from working, with few exceptions. For children under 16, hours of work are also restricted. The child labor laws also prohibit children under 16 from working in specific situations that are deemed too dangerous. In agriculture-related work, these include:

Children under age 16 may work in agricultural-related jobs outside of school hours. Children ages 12 and 13 may be employed only with written parental consent or on a farm where a parent is also employed. Activities in nonagricultural work that are judged to be too dangerous for children under the age of 16 include:

Children under 16 may not work in mining or manufacturing, and the number of hours, times of day and types of jobs that they may perform are restricted. However, minors 16 and 17 years of age may work unlimited hours in nonagricultural jobs. Ignorance of the law is the primary reason employers violate federal child labor laws. In an effort to educate employers, employees and the general public, offices of the Wage and Hour Division across the country are attempting to build partnerships with businesses such as fast-food restaurants, growers and processors of agricultural commodities, retail stores and insurance companies.

The Western Region, head-quartered in San Francisco, recently partnered with the Paula Insurance Co., a private workers' compensation insurance carrier. Paula insures more than 8,500 agricultural and nonagricultural employers in an eight-state area. Together, the Wage and Hour Division and Paula Insurance developed and implemented the Child Accident Prevention Program (CAPP). As part of CAPP, Paula provided information on child labor laws to its clients through a mass mailing. Training was also provided to the company's field representatives who have contact with both clients and employees on a daily basis. Paula found that from an ethical as well as an economical standpoint, CAPP was justified even if only one serious injury to a working minor was prevented. The expenses incurred from one claim resulting in a permanent disability far outweighed the cost of the program.

This year the Wage and Hour Division will again focus on education through partnership in addition to its rigorous enforcement program. Workers' compensation insurance carriers will be contacted to develop plans based on the successful CAPP. In addition, the U.S. Department of Labor will be conducting two major campaigns throughout the remainder of 1998. "Fair Harvest, Safe Harvest," a farmworker rights and safety campaign, is designed to provide farmworkers with important information to protect themselves and their families. A major emphasis of "Fair Harvest, Safe Harvest" is to keep all children who work in agriculture safe.

The department's "Work Safe This Summer" initiative will focus on increasing knowledge of and compliance with the child labor provisions in the nonagricultural setting for the third year in a row. Through this initiative, literature emphasizing safe work opportunities for youth will be disseminated to schools, employers, and the general public.

For information on partnerships and the child labor laws, contact the Wage-Hour office nearest you. Or visit the department's Web site at http://www.dol.gov.

Sharon Brunson is regional child labor coordinator for the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division's Western Region. She will be a guest speaker at the Center's September conference, Health & Safety in Western Agriculture.

Pesticide handlers in California who hold a Qualified Applicator Certificate (QAC) or Qualified Applicator License (QAL) are required to attend a minimum of 20 hours of continuing education programs every two years to maintain their certification. Approximately 26,000 people hold these credentials, creating a great demand for continuing education courses. Prior to the creation of the Pesticide Education Program in 1988, some departments in the University of California were conducting continuing education meetings that attracted audiences of 400 or more people.

Patrick O'Connor-Marer

When the Pesticide Education Program was formed, some of these meetings continued. However, classroom-type training, although efficient for the instructors, provided little opportunity for pesticide handlers to learn or practice skills they needed in their day-to-day work. While exploring other methods of training, program developers of the program conceived the idea of holding "hands-on" workshops, in which participants could be part of small groups that learned and practiced important pesticide application and handling skills from experts. These included farm advisors from San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Ventura counties, representatives from agricultural commissioner offices and industry representatives. Over a period of almost a year, program representatives worked with these groups to develop curricula, identify and train volunteer instructors, obtain equipment and props, and locate suitable facilities.

The first three workshops were held in 1990 in Escondido, Chino and Oxnard. Each workshop accommodated up to 400 participants, which were divided up into groups of 15. Participants chose to have training given in English or Spanish. Each trainer was responsible for seven people, who dealt with spills or other emergencies, and selected and cared for equipment. A total of 28 instructors were involved in each workshop. The instructors, recruited by local farm advisors, were put through two-and-a-half days of training prior to the workshop. One of the sessions involved a "dress rehearsal" in which instructors practiced their training on other instructors at the workshop site. Two additional coordinators, usually farm advisors, were assigned to each topic to help train the instructors and assist them during the actual workshops. Workshops were held in large parks, fairgrounds and community centers. All activities took place out-of-doors so that participants could learn and practice actual skills.

As a result of the success of the 1990 workshops, the program was continued through 1994 and held in 12 additional locations (one of the workshops was conducted in the Punjabi language). The workshop format proved to be a great venue for providing training to certified and noncertified mixer-loader applicators. More than 4,700 people attended the workshops between 1990 and 1994 and several counties have now continued holding hands-on training workshops on their own. The highly successful program continues to provide training to the instructors of these workshops and loans equipment and props to the workshop coordinators.

Animals, machinery and falls are some of the most common sources of injury in dairy farming, whereas exposure to chemicals, dust and gases present the greatest cause for concern in the rice, poultry and viticulture industries, according to studies by five industrial hygiene students in UC Berkeley's School of Public Health.

In May, four students presented results of Center-funded projects addressing potential exposures and safety hazards involved in three agricultural commodities--dairy, poultry and rice. Under the direction of Katherine Hammond, associate professor of environ-mental health at UC Berkeley, the students' investigations included a review of available literature regarding potential exposures to farmers and farmworkers associated with the commodities. Students spoke with UC Extension specialists and visited farms to meet with growers and observe production processes. Each prepared a report of his or findings and made recommendations for further investigation. In addition to risks posed by animals, machinery and falls, other sources of injury in the dairy industry include chemical and biological hazards.

Since California is the nation's top producer of eggs, ninth largest producer of broiler chickens, fourth largest producer of turkeys, and the industry employs more than 25,000 people, George Bibbins looked into the biological and chemical hazards of poultry production. He discovered that poultry production workers are exposed to cleaning agents, poultry drugs, propane (used in heaters to warm chicks during the first few weeks after arrival) and ammonia. Bibbins says, "Exposures can be controlled by personal protective equipment (including fit-tested chemical cartridge respirators) and adequate ventilation in confinement buildings." He also advises farm owners and managers to set a standard of maintaining a high level of cleanliness of poultry houses. Workers should shower before entering and leaving poultry houses. This will help to protect poultry and people outside of the poultry house from infectious agents that may be carried on workers' clothing and skin.

Kim Lin and Robin Yamashita presented their overview of occupational exposure hazards in the California rice farming industry. Compared to other countries, rice production in California is not as labor-intensive because the process is largely automated. Pesticides and herbicides are the predominant chemicals utilized in rice farming. Pesticide applicators are most likely to be at risk of exposure via inhalation and dermally. Aerial spraying is often used and places anyone in close proximity to the sprayed fields at risk of exposure due to drift from the application. Other potential hazards include dust inhalation, high-decibel sources of noise from automated equipment, climatic heat exposure, accidents involving mechanized equipment and some ergonomic and biological hazards. Lin and Yamashita recommend that:

In his report on occupational tasks and associated exposures at vineyards, John McCracken, who graduated from the School of Public Health prior to the student presentations, describes the tasks involved in growing wine grapes. McCracken details the "circumstances surrounding potential exposures to hazardous environmental agents... to determine what exposures to chemical, physical or biological agents may be hazardous and warrant further investigation." Students agreed that continued education and training of farmers and farmworkers reduces the chance for injury or illness, and that their reports should serve as background material for further investigations. Peterson, Bibbins, Lim and Yamashita each received a master's degree in industrial hygiene from UC Berkeley in June.

Copies of the students' reports may be obtained by calling the Center at (530) 752-4050; or reports may be requested via e-mail at agcenter@ucdavis.edu.

The full-day forum, held at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria in Sacramento, addressed the health needs, economic and social factors, occupational health issues and population risk factors of California's migrant and seasonal farmworker population. Sponsored by the UC Wellness Lectures Program and funded by the California Wellness Foundation, the program was part of a series of events designed to improve the health of the people of California and to develop recommendations for public policies that support health promotion and disease prevention in the state's rural communities.

Speranza Avram, executive director for the Northern Sierra Rural Health Network, moderated the morning panel session focusing on medical and health care access and financing issues facing rural communities. The panel represented several rural health care services as well as individuals from the state Department of Health Services, a member of the California Senate, and a senior officer from The California Endowment. The afternoon session included concurrent workshops focusing on future policy challenges, health care access, language and cultural issues, community food security planning, occupational health concerns and the development of a sustainable environment.

Panel members represented many different constituencies and disciplines from a variety of geographical locations throughout the state. Although they shared the same concerns, many panel members had not worked together in the past. The interactive workshops allowed panelists and participants to work together on many of the issues facing both rural communities and agricultural populations and to discuss potential solutions or approaches to improve health care access, financing and prevention programs, and to form new networks for follow-up collaborations.

Irene Bronston, coordinator of UC Wellness Lectures Program, explained, "In one workshop we had a health outreach volunteer who works with the Southeast Asian families in the Central Valley. She was able to share her ideas with farmworker advocates, pesticide educators, anthropologists and a county maternal child health department coordinator about effective ways to overcome language and cultural barriers when addressing health and safety issues among immigrant populations." For example, she believes age- and gender-appropriate translators who are culturally sensitive to Hmong and other Southeast Asian customs should be employed at clinics and service centers to ensure that health care services are understood and acceptable.

During a workshop titled "Rural California in Transition: Language and Culture," May-See Lee described cancer outreach and early detection consultation she provides for Southeast Asian women in Merced. Lee, who is Hmong and grew up in Laos, volunteers for the American Cancer Society, providing outreach services by participating in various coalitions.

Center Director Marc Schenker, who served as a panel member for the "Occupational Health Issues Update" workshop, applauded the cooperation and new networks that were formed throughout the day. "I think many ideas were shared and plans germinated for addressing occupational health problems," he said. "An active exchange of information took place between participants that we hope will result in new collaborations." In another workshop addressing sustainable environments, panelists targeted the effects of range management and livestock on watersheds, the need to analyze and confront environmental degradation, and the problems of environmental justice shared by low-income communities in rural and urban settings.

One of the highlights of the forum was the closing session drama performed in Spanish by the Farmworker Women's Leadership Network, Lideres Campesinas. This drama was developed as part of a domestic violence prevention program to educate farmworker women about the causes of domestic violence as well as its symptoms and possible remedies. Recognized in 1995 by the Family Violence Prevention Fund and awarded the Marshalls Domestic Peace Prize, members of Lideres Campesinas are committed to educating others about the dangers facing farmworker women and their families. Their performance at the forum brought an awareness to the audience about domestic violence, workplace harassment and pesticide exposure among farmworker women.

Patrick O'Connor-Marer, the Center's associate director, said, "The Center's involvement in the forum is in keeping with our interest to work directly with the agricultural community so that we can continue to understand and address issues that are most critical to sustaining a healthy and safe environment."

Selected conference materials and Wellness Lectures books containing health policy papers by UC professors are available upon request. Contact Wellness Lectures, UC Office of the President at (510) 987-9711; fax (510) 987-9715, or e-mail your inquiry to wellness@ucop.edu. For further information, visit the Wellness Lectures Program Web site at www.ucop.edu.ucophome/healaff/wellpgm.

Epidemiologic data have suggested that particulate matter (PM) air pollution leads to adverse health effects; however, most of the toxicological data has been derived from animal models or human lungs of individuals of advanced age and disease in which the early patterns of particle deposition and pulmonary response can no longer be determined. Similarly, very little human pathology information exists on dust-induced disease among farming populations.

Francis H.Y. Green, M.D.

A current study provides new information on the human effects of particle deposition for a greater age spectrum. Between 1994 and 1996, the Fresno County Coroner's office supplied lung specimens from all cases of Hispanic adult males (median age 29, with a range of 16-73 years old). These men had died of various causes and had been autopsied by the County Coroner for a Center-funded study of the human health effects of PM air pollution. The ongoing study, headed by Center Director Marc Schenker, includes one of the foremost occupational lung pathologists in the world, Francis H.Y. Green, M.D., professor of pathology at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Green visited Davis in February to discuss his preliminary findings in the study.

During his noon presentation titled "Dust-Induced Diseases of the Lungs Among Agricultural Workers," Green stated, "A tremendous number of potential hazards in farming could contribute to respiratory disease. We can break them down into categories such as gases, mineral dust, organic dust and agricultural chemicals. Organic dusts have been linked to asthma and chronic bronchitis; and mineral dusts have been linked to small airways disease, silicosis, fibrosis, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The question is, where do you start?"

Over the period of a year and a half, 117 lung tissue samples were provided by the Fresno County Coroner's office, and preliminary analysis of lung dust distribution and lung tissue remodeling has been performed on 43 lung samples. Center Investigator Kent Pinkerton, associate professor of anatomy and cell biology at UC Davis, performed microdisection morphology on the lungs, and Green performed the underlying pathology. "In the first 43 cases, we found quite a few cases of asthma in those specimens with a farming history and also in the non-farming specimens," said Green. "Chronic bronchitis is high in both groups but it reflects the rates of smoking. Additionally, small airways disease is prominent and was positively associated with both farm dust exposure and with a history of smoking."

The study data have been analyzed by farmworker or non-farmworker and by cigarette smoking status. "The nonsmoking, nonfarmworkers had the lowest scores of all when ranked as mild, moderate or severe lung pathology, but we're working on developing a ranking method that is more objective," said Green.

Green and his colleagues have made casts of the airways of the lungs by injecting silicone rubber into the airways under negative pressure. "The reason we use negative pressure is to allow the silicone rubber to go into blind spaces and blind sacs," said Green. "If we pushed it through, we wouldn't fill in any areas that are obstructed or blind."

These casts of the airways allow Green to look for abnormal changes in airway anatomy. "In cases of asthma, Dr. Green has been able to determine that the airway lumen is oftentimes dilated, sometimes more in the lower airways than in the upper airways of the lungs," said co-investigator Pinkerton. "He has also used these casts to see dilated submucosal gland `pits' found along the length of the airway. These pits represent a dilation of the opening to the submucosal gland, perhaps as a reflection of excess mucous secretions."

Green's autopsy study of California farmworkers has revealed that small-airway disease and asthma are prevalent among the farmworker population. The pathology techniques and anatomical measurements obtained in this study can be used to differentiate lung diseases to help researchers obtain a clearer understanding of the relationship between exposure and disease severity.

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