Total pesticide use, and the number of different chemicals applied, has increased
substantially since the 1960s, when the first reliable records of pesticide use were
established. Herbicide use has increased substantially and now accounts for approxi-
mately 75 percent of the total agricultural use of pesticides. Total insecticide usage
has declined slightly, and a major shift in the types of compounds used has taken
place, as organophosphorus and other insecticides have largely replaced organochlo-
rine compounds. Fungicide use has increased slowly over the last two decades, and still
represents only a small fraction—approximately 6 percent—of total agricultural pesti-
cide use. Increased use of pesticides has resulted in increased crop production, lower
maintenance costs, and control of public health hazards. However, concerns about
the potential adverse effects of pesticides on the environment and human health also
have grown.^3Overview of Farm LaborFarm labor is seasonal and intensive. Planting, thinning, and harvesting are not
year-round activities. However, they are crucial to crop production, and the time
frame in which they must occur is determined by the seasons and the weather. Failure
to perform any of these activities at the appropriate time can result in a lost crop.
The urgency to accomplish tasks according to agricultural timetables compels farm-
workers to labor in the fields in all seasons and in all weather conditions, including
extreme heat, cold, rain, bright sun, and damp conditions.
Farmworkers’ work hours accommodate the crops, not vice versa. Their work often
requires stoop labor, working with the soil, climbing, carrying heavy loads, and mak-
ing direct contact with plants. The crops and the soil are frequently treated with pes-
ticides and chemical fertilizers. Some plants, such as tobacco and strawberries, exude
chemicals that are toxic to humans or that can cause severe allergic reactions such as
contact dermatitis.
There are anecdotal reports of farmworkers resorting to irrigation ditches and run-
off ponds when safe water is not available for drinking and washing. Pesticides, chem-
ical fertilizers, and organic wastes contaminate this water. Drinking and bathing in
such water exposes farmworkers to potentially harmful chemicals, and also to water-
borne pesticides.^4
The estimated 4.2 million migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States
constitute a population at risk for serious environmental and occupational illness and
injury as well as health disparities typically associated with poverty. Although farm-
workers are essential to the production of food in the United States, they have little
power to control their work conditions. Farmworkers often make little more than
minimum wage, seldom receive any employment benefits, and in many areas are not
organized. Most farmworkers are immigrants and the national farmworker population
has become increasingly Latino and Mexican during the past decade. In 1998, 81
percent of all migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States were foreign-
born, and 95 percent of those were born in Mexico.26 | Pesticides