Although some areas of the United States (such as California and Florida) have
routinely employed large numbers of Latino seasonal and migrant farmworkers, other
areas have recently experienced a dramatic increase in those workers as family labor
gives way to hired labor. In North Carolina, which ranks fifth in the size of its farm-
worker population, most farmworkers fifteen years ago were African American. Today
only 10 percent are African American; most are Latino like the rest of the farmworker
population in the United States. Pesticides are a major source of occupational injury
and illness to which farmworkers are exposed.^5
Young migrant and seasonal workers are the fastest-growing segment of the agricul-
tural workforce. Many of them are entering an unfamiliar country and working in
agriculture for the first time. In addition to their developmental needs for nutrition,
rest, and education, young migrant and seasonal workers are totally dependent on
adults for ensuring their health and safety while employed in agriculture.
There are nearly 400,000 young children in the United States who actually live on
farms, and many of the additional five million agricultural workers living near farms
have children. These people are extraordinarily diverse, ranging from family farmers
to professional pesticide applicators to migrant farmworkers. Other groups of people
who do not farm may also have pesticide exposure. For example, urban landscapers,
pet groomers, and urban pesticide applicators share at least one important characteris-
tic with farm families: they may bring pesticide residues home to their children.
Agricultural work is difficult and dangerous. Annual rates of work-related deaths
among farmworkers are much greater than those for the general workforce. Migrant
and seasonal farmworkers have exceptionally difficult working and living conditions
and may suffer particularly high pesticide exposures. They bear the brunt of the risks
and are most likely to be overlooked by scientists and regulators.^6 It is clear that the
possibility for exposure to pesticides is greatest among farmworkers. While agricul-
tural use of chemicals is restricted to a limited number of compounds, farming is one
of the few industries in which chemicals are intentionally released into the environ-
ment because they kill things.
Occupational Safety and Health
Agricultural workers have an annual death rate that is five times greater than the
national rate for all occupations combined. The magnitude of pesticide exposures
and their impact on the health of farmworkers is unknown, particularly among ethnic
minorities. Minorities are more likely to be subjected to adverse agricultural expo-
sures than non-minorities. Assessments of acceptable exposure to pesticides cannot be
the same as the acceptable daily intake of pesticides from dietary exposure since mi-
grant farmworkers are much more likely to have heavier exposure to pesticides.
According to the USDA’s own data, agriculture is one of the most accident-prone
industries in the United States. Although the occupational fatality rate for all private-
sector industries is 4.3 per 100,000 full-time employees, the rate for the broad cate-
gory of agriculture, forestry, and fishing is 23.9. Other data sources indicate even
Pesticides in Agriculture | 27