Division of Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Observatory, Cape Town 7925, South Africa.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Sep 30;18(19):10341. doi: 10.3390/ijerph181910341.
Para-occupational "take-home" exposure risks among forestry workers and their families in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) have not been well characterized. This is a concern because research shows an association between chronic low-dose herbicide exposure and adverse health effects. This study explored take-home herbicide residue exposure risks among forestry workers in the Western Cape, South Africa, through the community-based participatory research approach of photovoice. A key finding of the study was the absence of provisions related to take-home exposure in the national legislation and workplace policies, which largely contributed to poor adherence to risk reduction practices at worksites, in addition to workers transporting residues to their homes. This study demonstrated evidence of the key omissions regarding take-home exposure at the policy level (e.g., recommendations for employers to reduce take-home risks among employees, and training of workers and their families on take-home exposure) and take-home herbicide residue exposure among worker's families, including children.
中低收入国家（LMICs）林业工人及其家属的职业外“带回家”暴露风险尚未得到充分描述。这令人担忧，因为研究表明，慢性低剂量除草剂暴露与不良健康影响之间存在关联。本研究通过参与式社区研究方法——影像见证，探讨了南非西开普省林业工人的“带回家”除草剂残留暴露风险。研究的一个主要发现是，国家立法和工作场所政策中缺乏与“带回家”暴露相关的规定，这在很大程度上导致了工人在工作场所未能遵守减少风险的规定，除了工人将残留物运回家。本研究表明，在政策层面上，存在着关于“带回家”暴露的关键遗漏（例如，建议雇主减少员工的“带回家”风险，以及对工人及其家属进行“带回家”暴露培训），并且工人的家属，包括儿童，都存在除草剂残留“带回家”暴露的问题。
