Pesticide Safety
Rugulations may ensure farmers are better protected from pesticides.
A new rule mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency may help protect farmers when they use pesticides. The regulation may promote pesticide safety instead of banning pesticide use altogether.
A Serious Problem
Currently, there are more than 2 million agricultural workers in the U.S., according to the EPA. These workers can be exposed to many dangers, most notably pesticides. While some pesticides are not harmful to humans at all, other types can be seriously dangerous for humans to use and can lead to pesticide poisoning. Often times, pesticide poisonings are not reported. This is mainly because of long-term low exposure, which is when farmers experience mild symptoms of pesticide poisoning but do not realize the source because of lack of awareness and education. Low exposure has been linked to chronic illness. It is also hard to determine where the source of the pesticides came from as people who report poisonings will often call from their home, instead of the farm they work on. As a result, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that the data is often skewed and incorrect.
The EPA estimates that somewhere between 1,800 and 3,000 incidents of pesticide poisoning occur every year. All of these incidents occur at farms, which is why the EPA and the CDC know there are several more incidents that have gone unreported. So the organization decided to take the initiative to help protect farmers who are actively using these chemicals on farms, fields and other agricultural areas. Not only will the new rule protect people and their families, it will also help reduce the costs of lost labor, lawsuits and medical bills.
A Beneficial Development
The new rule is a huge update for farmers, who are overjoyed by the regulation. The last time a protective law was put into place for farmers' wellbeing was in 1992. Currently, the rule causes farmers to be trained on pesticides every five years. Now, those rules have drastically changed. Farmers will be given an updated overview on pesticides every year. The rule also mandates that only adults over the age of 18 will have the ability to handle pesticides. If a field is contaminated, farmers will find out about it as soon as it happens and will be instructed to spread the word. Lastly, farmers will receive better equipment and gear to wear while handling the pesticides.
But is this enough? Some may argue it is not. Certain states, including Washington and California, have specific health monitoring for anyone who is handling the most dangerous pesticides. That way, the monitoring can catch any small symptoms of poisoning or issues that suggest there is a potential chronic illness arising. Yet this type of monitoring can be costly, so the EPA decided to not make it nationwide. Instead, states will have to independently monitor their workers like California and Washington did.
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