Farm Worker Tests Reveal Routine Pesticide Exposure

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PANUPS: Farm Worker Tests Reveal Routine Pesticide Exposure

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 15:57:05 -0800

 

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P A N U P S

Pesticide Action Network Updates Service

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Farm Worker Tests Reveal Routine Pesticide Exposure

February 18, 2005

 

On February 8, 2005, national and state farm worker organizations

highlighted some very disturbing medical monitoring results in Washington

State. Their report, " Messages from Monitoring, " looks at the first year

of data from a Washington State program that tests farm workers who

regularly handle organophosphates (OPs) and carbamates (CBs), both of

which are neurotoxic pesticides. The report shows that one in five

workers

tested experiences significant inhibition of cholinesterase--an enzyme

essential to proper nervous system function--and faults both state and

federal agencies for failing to protect farm workers.

 

For nearly 20 years, farm workers in Washington have pressed for a

medical monitoring program, similar to a program instituted in 1974 in

California, which has the only other monitoring program for this highly

toxic class of pesticides. After a state Supreme Court ruled for the farm

workers, testing began in Washington at the start of the 2004 growing

season. The Washington program applies to all workers who mix, load,

apply, or otherwise handle highly toxic OP or CB pesticides for 50 or

more

hours a month.

 

When exposure to OPs or CBs causes declines in cholinesterase levels,

workers can suffer serious health effects such as nausea, headaches,

fatigue, and seizures. If levels decline further more severe effects can

occur, including long-term memory loss, paralysis and death.

 

Workers received " baseline " blood tests prior to the spray season to

identify normal levels of cholinesterase. They then received monthly

follow-up tests when they met or exceeded the 50-hour per month handling

threshold. (That threshold drops to 30 hours per month in 2005.) Under

the monitoring rules, when cholinesterase levels decline by more than 20%

from the workers' baseline level, employers are required to conduct

workplace audits to identify and address factors contributing to serious

depression. When levels decline by 30% or more in red blood cell tests

or 40% or more in blood plasma tests, workers must be removed from

handling tasks until their cholinesterase levels rebound sufficiently.

Employers can reassign workers to other tasks that do not involve

significant exposures if available, and must maintain full salaries

and benefits

for removed workers.

 

Over the course of the spray season, 123 (21%) pesticide handlers out

of 580 who received both baseline and follow-up tests had depressions of

more than 20% (the workplace audit level). Of these, 26 (over 4% of the

580 workers) had depressions low enough to trigger removal under the

state rules.

 

Four pesticides were repeatedly involved in serious depressions:

chlorpyrifos (Lorsban), azinphos methyl (Guthion), carbaryl (Sevin) and

formetanate (Carzol). The majority of handlers needing removal for

cholinesterase depressions used a mixture of carbaryl and an OP

insecticide

(chlorpyrifos or azinphos methyl). One common contributing factor at

workplaces with depressions was the use of air-blast sprayers towed by

tractors to apply the pesticides.

 

Significantly, in a large percentage of the serious depression cases,

there was no evidence of non-compliance with federal Worker Protection

Standards or pesticide labels. Many case summaries, in fact, noted that

growers and their employees exceeded regulatory requirements by wearing

a respirator for chlorpyrifos though this is not required. The report

notes that EPA's own analysis predicted that occupational exposures

would pose unacceptable risks, " In fact, citing cost-benefit

provisions in

federal pesticide registration law, EPA has approved continued use of

some highly toxic OPs while openly acknowledging that even with full

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and engineering controls, workers

will

experience exposures which EPA considers unacceptable, i.e. having

Margins of Exposure (MOE) less than 100. Almost all handling scenarios

for

azinphos methyl pose exposure risks for workers which EPA considers

unacceptable, and numerous scenarios for chlorpyrifos do the same. "

 

" Messages from Monitoring " identifies serious problems in the

Washington testing that may mask evidence of even greater harm. For

example,

statistical analyses done by the program's Scientific Advisory Committee

reveals the risks of false negatives may be as high as 50%. The

Committee also noted that many depressions might have been missed

because of

the length of time that elapsed between sample collection and analysis.

In other cases, workers reportedly declined monitoring due to actual or

perceived employer interference.

 

The report also faulted the Washington State Department of Labor and

Industry (L & I) for its slow response when testing revealed cholinesterase

declines. " L & I chose not to use its enforcement authorities to

investigate workplaces where depressions occurred. Even in cases where

multiple

workers had depressions, the agency adopted a 'consultation' approach. "

The average interval between receiving test results and performing

workplace audits or removals was more than 7 days, during which time the

workers may have been receiving additional exposures.

 

" Messages from Monitoring " points out that the Washington monitoring

program tests pesticide handlers, and not field workers despite a growing

body of literature demonstrating routine pesticide exposure among field

workers and their families. Finally, the report faults government for

failing to promote alternatives to these dangerous pesticides, and calls

on state agencies and the federal government to end the use of the most

risky pesticides, including azinphos methyl, chlorpyrifos and other

highly toxic OPs and CBs, and to require cholinesterase monitoring on a

national basis.

 

The United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO (UFW) is now circulating an

online petition asking EPA to implement a national cholinesterase

monitoring program. To sign the petition visit:

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/PesticideMonitoring

 

 

Source: " Messages from Monitoring, " Farm Worker Pesticide Project,

Farmworker Justice Fund, United Farm Workers, http://www.fwjustice.org.

Contact: Farm Worker Pesticide Project, 206-729-0498, PANNA.

 

 

 

We encourage those interested in having resources listed in the PANUPS

Resource Pointer to send review copies of publications, videos or other

resources to our office.

 

PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and

reporting on pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the

mainstream media. It's produced by Pesticide Action Network North

America, a

non-profit and non-governmental organization working to advance

sustainable alternatives to pesticides worldwide.

 

You can join our efforts! We gladly accept donations for our work and

all contributions are tax deductible in the United States. Visit

http://www.panna.org/donate.

 

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