| Description |
Exposure to pesticides presents health risks for farmworkers. Pesticide protective behaviors (PPBs), including clothing and washing behaviors, reduce exposures. The Worker Protection Standard (WPS) mandates that PPBs be taught to farmworkers. PPB adherence and barriers must be understood to shape meaningful health policy, enact effective educational requirements, and test interventions that decrease pesticide exposure, minimizing adverse health outcomes for farmworkers. Using the Health Belief Model as a guide, this study explored farmworkers' adherence to WPS standards; their perceptions of threat of illness and cancer from pesticides; and their beliefs about benefits, facilitators, barriers, and strategies to mitigate barriers to PPB use. Seventy-two Latino farmworkers and three growers in North Carolina working on tobacco farms were enrolled. A prospective field observation and self-report design was utilized. Farmworkers were observed using more clothing than previously reported (90%-99% pants/long sleeves/closed shoes; 39% gloves), but had low rates of washing behaviors (0%-17%), even when supplies were available. Farmworkers' reported use of long pants and closed shoes was consistent with field observation; however, the use of long sleeves and gloves was more than was observed (97% vs. 90%, p = .028 and 83% vs. 39%, p = .000), and washing behaviors were markedly over-reported (43%-91% vs. 0%-10%, p = .000-.058). Farmworkers perceived pesticide exposure as an illness and cancer threat. iv They strongly endorsed the efficacy of clothing in minimizing those threats. While threat perception was not correlated with protective behaviors, findings suggest that protective clothing declined with greater agricultural experience. Farmworkers described wetness as the major obstacle to PPBs and reported concern for green tobacco sickness (GTS). They utilized hats and water-resistant outerwear, whose efficacy in minimizing pesticide exposure is unknown. Given higher rates of reported behaviors than observed, self-report should not be a proxy for actual behavior. Public health implications include increased emphasis on washing behaviors in training, and the potential benefit of moderately experienced farmworkers rather than more experienced farmworkers in reinforcing PPBs. For tobacco farmworkers in particular, pairing concerns about GTS and pesticide safety in training may improve adoption of protective behaviors. |
