Pesticides: Improvements Needed to Ensure the Safety of Farmworkers and Their Children
RCED-00-40
Published: Mar 14, 2000. Publicly Released: Apr 13, 2000.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on issues related to the safety of children who may be exposed to pesticides in agricultural settings, focusing on: (1) what federal requirements govern the safe use of pesticides, particularly as they relate to protecting children in agricultural settings; (2) what information is available on the acute and chronic effects of agricultural pesticide exposure, particularly on children; and (3) what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has done to ensure that its Worker Protection Standard considers the needs of children and is being adequately implemented and enforced.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Protection Agency | To better understand the overall risks that pesticides pose for farmworkers and their families as well as for the general public, the Administrator, EPA, should work with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Center for Environmental Health to implement their suggestions for improving the quality of information on acute pesticide illnesses in the nation, including establishing time frames, assigning responsibilities, and identifying resource needs and sources to accomplish this important objective. |
A joint EPA/NIOSH effort produced a "How To" manual on tracking pesticide illnesses. This action implements the intent of GAO's recommendation.
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| Environmental Protection Agency | The Administrator, EPA, should identify and expeditiously implement steps to mitigate the potential adverse effects of pesticide exposure on children below the age of 12 who work in agriculture or are otherwise present in pesticide-treated fields. Such steps might range from warning farmworker parents about the adverse effects that agricultural pesticides may have on their young children to having pesticide labels clearly state that children should not enter pesticide-treated agricultural areas for specified periods. | In July 2004, EPA provided documentation of its efforts to mitigate potential adverse effects of pesticide exposure on children under 12 and farm workers in general. For example, EPA sent a Federal Register notice dated May 26, 2004, indicating that EPA has a cooperative agreement with the Association of Farm Worker Opportunity Programs (AFOP) through which EPA funds the National Pesticide Safety Education Program for agricultural workers and farm worker children. AFOP trains 25,000 farm workers and farm worker children every year about pesticide safety in over 50 sites in 16 states. AFOP also conducts pesticide safety training for children at childcare centers, schools, churches, and...
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| Environmental Protection Agency | The Administrator, EPA, should complete the documentation supporting EPA's conclusion that the Worker Protection Standard's entry intervals adequately protect children 12 years of age and older, and provide the documentation to the Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee for its review. |
EPA provided a presentation on its methods for estimating exposure from reentry activities and whether they were adequately protective of children's age at a December 2002 meeting of EPA's Health Protection Advisory Committee in Washington, D.C. EPA concluded that there was not a meaningful difference between the exposures for adults and teen workers. EPA provided GAO with copies of the briefing slides.
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| Environmental Protection Agency | The Administrator, EPA, should improve EPA's oversight of the states' implementation and enforcement of the Worker Protection Standard by, among other things: (1) clearly defining what constitutes a worker protection inspection for the purposes of the cooperative agreements; (2) establishing goals for the minimum number of worker protection inspections that states should conduct annually under their cooperative agreements; (3) examining whether the resources states dedicate for this function under the cooperative agreements are adequate to achieve the goals established; (4) clarifying the roles and responsiblities of EPA's regional offices to ensure consistency in their oversight of the program; and (5) taking the necessary steps to obtain and analyze data on the results of the states' worker protection inspections, including the number and types of actions taken in response to worker protection violations. | In July 2004, the Chief of the Agricultural Branch of the compliance section of EPA's Office of Enforcement sent a summary of actions taken by EPA to implement the recommendation, including the following. (1) EPA has issued a WPS inspection definition as an addendum to the fiscal year (FY) 2002/2003 Pesticide Cooperative Agreement Guidance. (2) Regarding the number of inspections to be conducted, EPA has provided guidance stating, "The appropriate number of inspections to be conducted in any state or tribal lands should be consistent with the number of farms and farm employees covered by WPS. The appropriate number of WPS inspections is to be negotiated between grantees and their...
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Agricultural industryChildrenEnvironmental monitoringHealth hazardsLabor lawMedical information systemsOccupational safetyPesticide regulationPesticidesSafety standards