Integrating NHANES and toxicity forecaster data to compare pesticide exposure and bioactivity by farmwork history and US citizenship.
Chanese A FortéJess A MillarJustin A ColacinoPublished in: Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology (2023)
Farmworkers are a vulnerable population due to social determinants of health and occupational exposures. Here, we integrate US population chemical biomonitoring data and toxicity outcome data to assess pesticide exposure by farmwork history and citizenship. We find that farmworkers and those without US citizenship are significantly more likely to be exposed to concentrations of pesticides which are bioactive in toxicological assays. Thus, farmworkers employed in the US but who are not citizens could be at increased risk of harm to their health due to pesticides. These findings are important to shape evidence-based policies in regulatory science to promote worker safety.