"Hispanic and Latino farmworkers at high risk from pesticide use in agriculture, while people in lower-income housing also affected".
"People of color and low-income communities are at disproportionate risk of pesticide exposure, a new study has found.
Roughly 90% of pesticide use in the US is in agriculture, making farmworkers – 83% of whom identify as Hispanic – more vulnerable to the synthetic chemicals intended to kill, repel or control pests.
“These workers somehow are seen as expendable,” said Robert Bullard, a co-author of the report and the director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University. “This study shows the systemic neglect that [led to] a whole workforce being an underclass and not given the same weight when it comes to health and safety.”
The study reviewed CDC and EPA data, along with existing pesticide research, and found that structural injustices, gaps in regulation and weak farmworker protections have led to disproportionate exposure to pesticides among people of color. It was conducted by the Center for Biological Diversity; researchers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities; and advocates from farmworker, racial justice and conservation groups."
Aliya Uteuova reports for the Guardian April 18, 2022.
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