Heat-Related Illness Among Latinx Child Farmworkers in North Carolina: A Mixed-Methods Study

Arnold, Taylor J.; Arcury, Thomas A.; Sandberg, Joanne C.; Quandt, Sara A.; Talton, Jennifer W.; Mora, Dana C.; Kearney, Gregory D.; Chen, Haiying; Wiggins, Melinda F.; Daniel, Stephanie S.

doi:10.1177/1048291120920571

Cited by 22 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(96 reference statements)

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“…Musculoskeletal injuries are only one risk for these children. Other risks such as pesticide exposure, heat stress, and unintentional injuries incurred using equipment have both short and long term consequences 13,15,30–32 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Musculoskeletal injury symptoms among hired Latinx child farmworkers in North Carolina

Quandt

Arnold

Talton

et al. 2021

American J Industrial Med

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Background Although children 10–17 years can be hired to work in agriculture, little research has addressed possible musculoskeletal injuries. Children may be at particular risk for these injuries because of the repetitive and load bearing nature of work tasks. Existing research relies on child workers to self‐report musculoskeletal injuries. Methods In 2017, 202 Latinx child farmworkers ages 10–17 employed across North Carolina completed survey interviews. In 2018, 145 of these children (94 [64.8%] current farmworkers) completed a physical examination and second interview. The examination obtained findings for upper and lower extremity as well as back injuries. Results Positive indicators for musculoskeletal symptoms were few in either current or former child farmworkers. The knee was most common site for positive indicators with 15.4% of children having at least one. Combining all anatomical sites, 29.0% of children had at least one positive indicator, with no significant difference between current and former farmworkers. Overall, boys had significantly more indicators of knee injuries than girls (21.3% vs. 4.1%), indicators of ankle injuries were found only in the youngest workers (9.5% of children 11–13 years), and significantly fewer current farmworkers had indicators of lower back injuries than former farmworkers (6.4% vs. 17.7%). Conclusions Expectations of injuries come from previous studies using child farmworker self‐reports, adult farmworker injury rates, and sports medicine pediatric findings. Hired child farmworkers may not perform activities as repetitious and load‐bearing as children in sports training or adult farmworkers. Additional research using physical examination is needed to confirm these findings.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Musculoskeletal injury symptoms among hired Latinx child farmworkers in North Carolina

Quandt

Arnold

Talton

et al. 2021

American J Industrial Med

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“…This analysis uses interview data collected each year from 2017 through 2019 and pesticide exposure data collected with silicone wristbands in 2018 and 2019. The 2017 questionnaire addressed personal and work characteristics; results from this questionnaire have been published in several papers 41,55,60,62–64 . The questionnaires for 2018 and 2019 included items to measure current year work activities.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pesticide exposure among Latinx child farmworkers in North Carolina

Arcury

Chen

Arnold

et al. 2021

American J Industrial Med

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Background 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. Methods 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. Results 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. Conclusions 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.

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Section: Child Farmworkersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Child farmworkers were the target population in 4 studies that examined the experiences, risk factors, and preventive measures associated with HRI (49)(50)(51)60). These studies reported that child farmworkers faced a poor work safety climate and often lacked access to healthcare, sanitation facilities, and proper heat prevention measures (49)(50)(51)60). HRI prevalence was high in this population with nearly half of the child farmworkers reporting at least one HRI symptom in the previous 12 months according to one study (51).…”

Section: Child Farmworkersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Climate Change and Heat Stress on Farmworkers' Health: A Scoping Review

Khayat

Halwani

Hneiny

et al. 2022

Front. Public Health

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Due to the continuous rise of global temperatures and heatwaves worldwide as a result of climate change, concerns for the health and safety of working populations have increased. Workers in the food production chain, particularly farmworkers, are especially vulnerable to heat stress due to the strenuous nature of their work, which is performed primarily outdoors under poor working conditions. At the cross-section of climate change and farmworkers' health, a scoping review was undertaken to summarize the existing knowledge regarding the health impacts associated with climate change and heat stress, guide future research toward better understanding current and future climate change risks, and inform policies to protect the health and safety of agricultural workers. A systematic search of 5 electronic databases and gray literature websites was conducted to identify relevant literature published up until December 2021. A total of 9045 records were retrieved from the searches, of which 92 articles were included in the final review. The majority of the reviewed articles focused on heat-related illnesses (n = 57) and kidney diseases (n = 28). The risk factors identified in the reviewed studies included gender, dehydration, heat strain, wearing inappropriate clothing, workload, piece-rate payment, job decision latitude, and hot environmental conditions. On the other hand, various protective and preventive factors were identified including drinking water, changing work hours and schedule of activities, wearing appropriate clothing, reducing soda consumption, taking breaks in shaded or air-conditioned areas, and increasing electrolyte consumption in addition to improving access to medical care. This review also identified various factors that are unique to vulnerable agricultural populations, including migrant and child farmworkers. Our findings call for an urgent need to expand future research on vulnerable agricultural communities including migrant workers so as to develop effective policies and interventions that can protect these communities from the effects of heat stress.

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Heat-Related Illness Among Latinx Child Farmworkers in North Carolina: A Mixed-Methods Study

Cited by 22 publications

References 49 publications

Musculoskeletal injury symptoms among hired Latinx child farmworkers in North Carolina

Musculoskeletal injury symptoms among hired Latinx child farmworkers in North Carolina

Pesticide exposure among Latinx child farmworkers in North Carolina

Impacts of Climate Change and Heat Stress on Farmworkers' Health: A Scoping Review

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