Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
Center for Worker Health, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
Am J Ind Med. 2021 Jul;64(7):602-619. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23258. Epub 2021 May 25.
Although pesticides have adverse effects on child health and development, little research has examined pesticide exposure among child farmworkers. This analysis addresses two specific aims: (1) describes pesticide exposure among Latinx child farmworkers in North Carolina, and (2) delineates factors associated with this pesticide exposure.
In 2018 (n = 173) and 2019 (n = 156) Latinx child farmworkers completed interviews and wore silicone wristbands for a single day to measure pesticide exposure. Wristbands were analyzed for 70 pesticides.
Most Latinx child farmworkers were exposed to multiple pesticides; the most frequent were pyrethroids (69.9% in 2018, 67.9% in 2019), organochlorines (51.4% in 2018, 55.1% in 2019), and organophosphates (51.4% in 2018, 34.0% in 2019). Children were exposed to a mean of 2.15 pesticide classes in 2018 and 1.91 in 2019, and to a mean of 4.06 pesticides in 2018 and 3.34 in 2019. Younger children (≤15 years) had more detections than older children; children not currently engaged in farm work had more detections than children currently engaged in farm work. Migrant child farmworkers had more detections than nonmigrants. For specific pesticides with at least 20 detections, detections and concentrations were generally greater among children not currently engaged in farm work than children currently engaged.
Children who live in farmworker communities are exposed to a plethora of pesticides. Although further research is needed to document the extent of pesticide exposure and its health consequences, sufficient information is available to inform the policy needed to eliminate this pesticide exposure in agricultural communities.
尽管农药对儿童健康和发育有不良影响，但很少有研究检查儿童农场工人的农药暴露情况。本分析有两个具体目标：（1）描述北卡罗来纳州拉丁裔儿童农场工人的农药暴露情况，（2）描述与这种农药暴露相关的因素。
2018 年（n=173）和 2019 年（n=156），拉丁裔儿童农场工人完成了访谈，并佩戴了硅胶手环一天，以测量农药暴露情况。手环分析了 70 种农药。
大多数拉丁裔儿童农场工人接触了多种农药；最常见的是拟除虫菊酯（2018 年为 69.9%，2019 年为 67.9%）、有机氯（2018 年为 51.4%，2019 年为 55.1%）和有机磷（2018 年为 51.4%，2019 年为 34.0%）。儿童在 2018 年接触了 2.15 种农药，在 2019 年接触了 1.91 种农药，在 2018 年接触了 4.06 种农药，在 2019 年接触了 3.34 种农药。年龄较小的（≤15 岁）儿童比年龄较大的儿童检测次数更多；目前不从事农业工作的儿童比目前从事农业工作的儿童检测次数更多。移民儿童农场工人比非移民儿童农场工人检测次数更多。对于至少有 20 次检测的特定农药，目前不从事农业工作的儿童的检测次数和浓度通常高于目前从事农业工作的儿童。
生活在农场工人社区的儿童接触了大量农药。尽管需要进一步研究来记录农药暴露的程度及其对健康的影响，但已经有足够的信息来为消除农业社区的这种农药暴露提供必要的政策依据。
