Pesticide Exposure Index: Practices Among Women From an Agricultural Community in Southeast Mexico

Abstract

The adverse effects of pesticides on public health have been well documented in different populations across the world. Families of agricultural workers, particularly their wives, face pesticide exposures through a number of complex patterns even when they do not directly engage in agricultural work. Nonetheless, these patterns of exposure among women in agricultural communities remain understudied. Unfortunately, in Mexico there are no studies examining these patterns yet. In consequence, the main goals of this study were to: 1) evaluate pesticide exposure in a rural community of Southeast Mexico, 2) examine the patterns of environmental and para-occupational pesticide exposure, and 3) document the para-occupational and environmental pesticide exposure among women who are not agricultural workers but have an agricultural family or are wives of agricultural workers. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 78 women who did not themselves participate in any agricultural activity, but lived in an agricultural community. Questionnaires and interviews were used to construct a Pesticide Exposure Index (PEI) estimating the degree of pesticide exposure among women from agricultural families and wives of agricultural workers. Through the PEI we showed that women living in agricultural communities using pesticides are inherently exposed to a certain level of pesticides. With the PEI we showed that women from agricultural families, especially wives of agricultural workers, have a long-term para-occupational pesticide exposure that should not be underestimated because they are not agricultural workers.

Pesticide Contamination in Drinking and Surface Water in the Cienega, Jalisco, Mexico

“…The Cienega region Jalisco is important at national level for its contributions to the production of wheat (68.05%), sorghum (48.05%), corn (27.75%), agave (4.8%), and red tomato (4.0%) (Transparencia 2004). It has been reported that the most frequently applied pesticides in agricultural fields in Jalisco, Mexico (Ayuquila-Armería river basin in Autlán de Navarro) are glyphosate, glufosinate, diazinon, parathion, malation, cypermethrin, lambda cialotrina, and paraquat (Pérez-Herrera et al 2018;Rodríguez-Aguilar et al 2019;Guzmán-Plazola et al 2016). In this study, results from the Cienega region are consistent with the high frequencies of application of glyphosate, glufosinate, cypermethrin, and paraquat, with a 60.49% prevalence in the use of…”

Pesticide management and farmers perception of environmental and health issues due to pesticide use in the state of yucatán, mexico: A study case

“…The most used active substances were paraquat and chlorpyrifos-ethyl for both types of agriculture (Table I). Pérez-Herrera et al (2018) report the use of 24 active substances in Muna, at the south of Yucatán, which is less than the observed active substances in this study (33). However, the two most used pesticides observed in this study (paraquat and chlorpyrifos) were reported between the most used.…”

“…This is aggravated by the fact that there is no record of the agricultural use of these substances in the state. In Mexico, recent studies report a lack of knowledge of farmers regarding pesticide management and the negative impact on family members (Pérez-Herrera et al 2018, Ruiz-Gamboa et al 2018, Esquivel-Valenzuela et al 2019.…”