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Female Farmworkers’ Perceptions of Pesticide Exposure and Pregnancy Health

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Abstract

Occupational pesticide exposure may be hazardous to pregnant farmworkers, yet few studies have focused on the health of female farmworkers distinct from their male counterparts or on the impact of agricultural work tasks on pregnancy outcomes. In the current community-based participatory research study, researchers conducted five focus groups with female nursery and fernery workers in Central Florida to enhance knowledge of attitudes about occupational risks and pregnancy health and to gather qualitative data to help form a survey instrument. This article presents the results from questions focused on pesticide exposure and its impact on general, reproductive, pregnancy, and fetal health. Workers reported a belief that pesticide exposure could be hazardous to pregnancy health; descriptions of symptoms and health concerns believed to be related to farmwork and to pesticide exposure; and descriptions of barriers preventing them from practicing safer occupational behaviors.

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health R21OH009830.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Governmental Responsibility, Levin College of Law, University of Florida, 230 Bruton-Geer, PO Box 117629, Gainesville, FL, 32611-7629, USA

    Joan Flocks

  2. Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Maureen Kelley & Linda McCauley

  3. Farmworker Association of Florida, Apopka, FL, USA

    Jeannie Economos

Authors
  1. Joan Flocks
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  2. Maureen Kelley
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  3. Jeannie Economos
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  4. Linda McCauley
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Correspondence to Joan Flocks.

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Flocks, J., Kelley, M., Economos, J. et al. Female Farmworkers’ Perceptions of Pesticide Exposure and Pregnancy Health. J Immigrant Minority Health 14, 626–632 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-011-9554-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-011-9554-6

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