Epidemiological Studies

Epidemiological Study

PESTICIDES, TOBACCO, and HEALTH: The case of the Huichol and mestizo field workers and ejidatarios in Nayarit, Mexico.
Oaxaca: Huichols & Pesticides Project 2002 - 251 pages
Patricia Díaz-Romo and Samuel Salinas-Álvarez (with the collaboration of Marion Moses, prologue by Lilia América Albert with a section by Carlos Santos-Burgoa, Horacio Riojas-Rodríguez and Mario Caballero)

Evaluation of exposure to organophosphate and carbamate insecticides among tobacco field workers in Nayarit. The study included 448 participants; 297 adults of 15 years or more and 151 children, less than 15 years of age. A second blood sample was taken from 240 people (158 adults and 82 children). Of the 448 participants in the study, 161 were indigenous migrant day laborers of the Huichol community.

High prevalence of symptoms associated with organophosphate and carbamate exposure were found among those who were and were not working in tobacco fields.This would indicate that exposure occurs not only in the workplace but that the general environment has also been contaminated.

The study also offers facts about child labor in tobacco agribusiness, the prevalent malnutrition among day field workers in this area, lack of general protection for these laborers and the overall dismal socioeconomic conditions in which tobacco workers live.

The collaboration of the following institutions was integral in the completion of this study:
Mexican Association of Popular Art and Culture, ac
Institute of Health, Environment, and Work, ac
Medico International, Germany
Pesticide Action Network of North America
Pesticide Education Center
Autonomous University of Nayarit
University of Guadalajara