Agricultural health and safety

DEOHS MS student, Lilian Liu was awarded the UW Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies' 2021-22 Washington State Labor Research Grant for the study, "Assessing Stakeholder Engagement in Labor Policy: T

Communities across the western United States experience hazardous smoke exposures from multiple fire sources. As wildfires become more frequent and severe, smoke exposures stemming from these fires are also worsening. Prescribed burning is a promising forest management strategy that can mitigate future wildfire risk, but also contributes to biomass burning emissions and human exposure impacts.

Laws permitting growth and possession of cannabis for medicinal and recreational use are currently changing rapidly in the United States (U.S.) and internationally. (Carliner et al., 2017; Caulkins et al., 2018; Mahamad and Hammond, 2019) While cultivation and use of cannabis is still considered illegal by the U.S. federal government, multiple U.S.

The COVID-19 pandemic had differential impacts on vulnerable populations, including US individuals of Hispanic descent and certain working populations. Despite this, there are gaps in scientific knowledge regarding risk factors for infection in such vulnerable populations.

The wine industry in Washington state is a high-hazard industry that exposes workers to a variety of physical, chemical, psychosocial, and natural hazards. However, literature on the impact of these hazards on this worker population is limited. This thesis presents a narrative literature review of hazards, exposures, health effects, and controls that impact the industry’s workers.

The use of chemical agents to eradicate pests and weeds is prevalent across both developing and developed countries, and it plays a crucial role in the agricultural sector by enhancing crop yields and minimizing losses.

Background.

Antimicrobial resistance in bacteria has been a prominent topic of concern for the public health sector in the 21st century. While there are many factors that contribute to increasing AMR in the human population, antimicrobial use in companion animal and large animal veterinary practices is of particular interest due to the One Health paradigm.

U.S. meat producers continue to face challenges with how to improve production sustainability, while balancing environmental and animal wellbeing decisions. The industry is driven by changing consumer preferences and market trends that require the need for continued transformations towards a sustainable production practice.

The IPC Plan is used to implement preventative measures to prioritize the health and well-being of all employees and animals on farms.

Organophosphate (OP) pesticides are extensively used to support agricultural practices in Washington State. OP exposure is associated with both asthmatic populations and agricultural communities. The objective of this thesis is to investigate the correlation between OP pesticide exposure in agricultural community, with respiratory health outcomes, associated with asthma.

Intro: Understanding how indoor environments can not only affect but also shape human health is a new area of emerging research. Considering that we spend a large portion of our daily lives indoors, dust is a major complex environmental mixture we are exposed to every day.

Introduction: The expansion of the U.S. cannabis industry has created thousands of new jobs in cultivation, processing and distribution. While little is known about occupational hazards in the Cannabis industry, pilot studies suggest an increased risk of respiratory exposures and associated adverse health outcomes, including immunologic sensitization to Cannabis.

The Washington State Department of Health investigates hundreds of pesticide illness reports each year, many of which are related to pesticide spray drift. Drift is the movement of pesticide aerosols through the air from an area of application to any unintended site and accounts for up to half of the pesticide-related illnesses among agricultural workers in the United States.

Background: Adverse health effects of extreme heat in occupational settings are substantial, particularly among outdoor workers who perform physical labor. Core body temperature (CT) is a critical indicator of heat strain. Excessive increase in CT negatively affects physical and cognitive performance and can lead to heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

Background: Efficacy-driven assessments of culturally and linguistically appropriate occupational health and safety training (OHS) for workers who speak English as a second language remain uncommon. This study analyzes predictors of performance on a dairy safety knowledge test using pre-and-post knowledge assessments.

Background: Many studies have linked childhood farm exposures to a protective effect against allergy and asthma. Although continued exposure in adulthood may maintain this effect, little work has been done looking specifically at adult occupational exposures.

No study has been undertaken in Washington state to determine if there is an association between agricultural fairs and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections, despite a fair-associated outbreak in 2015 that sickened 60 people.

In this paper, we describe the way in which socioeconomic factors (i.e. language, socioeconomic status, and education), climate change, and the migration patterns of US farmworker populations affect health care utilization across the nation, specifically in Washington State.

The University of Washington Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences Continuing Education Programs is designing a new online course titled “Agricultural Workers and Zoonotic Diseases: One Health Approach to Infection Prevention and Control on the Farm.” The course is in collaboration with UW Center for One Health Research and the UW Medicine, Division of Allergy and

Background: Heat-related injury (HRI) remains a significant public health concern in heat exposed outdoor occupational groups and especially in agricultural workers like tree fruit harvesters.

Background: Studies have reported that agricultural workers have elevated rates of respiratory health issues; however, the literature on respiratory function in dairy workers is limited and contradictory. Dairy work involves more exposure to dust and gases when compared to other occupations.

Anthropogenic climate change is expected to influence pest dynamics and pesticide application timing and rate, but little research has attempted to quantify the relationship or associated health impacts. Changing pesticide applications will impact risk of human exposure, particularly in agricultural communities.