Background

Farmworkers in the United States, especially migrant workers, face unique barriers to healthcare and have documented disparities in health outcomes. Exposure to pesticides, especially those persistent in the environment, may contribute to these health disparities.

Objective

Quantify differences in pesticide exposure bioactivity by farmworker category and US citizenship status.

Methods

We queried the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) from 1999-2014 for pesticide exposure biomarker concentrations among farmworkers and non-farmworkers by citizenship status. We combined this with toxicity assay data from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Toxicity Forecaster (ToxCast). We estimated adverse biological effects that occur across a range of human population-relevant pesticide doses.

Results

In total, there were 844 people with any farmwork history and 23,592 non-farmworkers. Of 12 commonly detectable pesticide biomarkers in NHANES, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (OR = 3.76, p = 1.33 × 10⁻⁶) was significantly higher in farmworkers than non-farmworkers. Farmworkers were 1.15 times more likely to have a bioactive pesticide biomarker measurement in comparison to non-farmworkers (adjusted OR = 1.15, 95% CI: 0.87, 1.51). Non-U.S. citizens were 1.39 times more likely to have bioactive pesticide biomarker concentrations compared to people with U.S. citizenship (adjusted OR 1.39, 95% CI: 1.17, 1.64). Additionally, non-citizens were significantly more exposed to bioactive levels of β-hexachlorocyclohexane (BHC) (OR = 8.10, p = 1.33 × 10⁻⁶), p,p-DDE (OR = 2.60, p = 0.02), and p,p’-DDT (OR = 7.75, p = 0.01).

Impact statement

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.

中文翻译：

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整合 NHANES 和毒性预测数据，根据农场工作历史和美国公民身份来比较农药暴露和生物活性

背景

美国的农场工人，尤其是移民工人，在医疗保健方面面临着独特的障碍，并且记录在案的健康结果存在差异。接触农药，尤其是环境中持久存在的农药，可能会导致这些健康差异。

客观的

按农场工人类别和美国公民身份量化农药接触生物活性的差异。

方法

我们查询了 1999 年至 2014 年国家健康和营养检查研究 (NHANES) 中按公民身份划分的农场工人和非农场工人农药暴露生物标志物浓度。我们将其与美国环境保护署 (EPA) 毒性预测器 (ToxCast) 的毒性测定数据结合起来。我们估计了一系列与人群相关的农药剂量所产生的不良生物效应。

结果

有务农经历844人，非务工人员23592人。在 NHANES 中 12 种常见的可检测农药生物标志物中，农场工人中的 2,4-二氯苯氧基乙酸（OR = 3.76，p  = 1.33 × 10 ^-6）显着高于非农场工人。与非农场工人相比，农场工人进行生物活性农药生物标志物测量的可能性高出 1.15 倍（调整后 OR = 1.15，95% CI：0.87，1.51）。与美国公民相比，非美国公民具有生物活性农药生物标志物浓度的可能性高出 1.39 倍（调整后 OR 1.39，95% CI：1.17，1.64）。此外，非公民明显更多地暴露于具有生物活性水平的β-六氯环己烷 (BHC)（OR = 8.10，p  = 1.33 × 10 ^-6）、p,p-DDE（OR = 2.60，p  = 0.02）和 p ,p'-DDT（OR = 7.75，p  = 0.01）。

影响报告

由于健康和职业暴露的社会决定因素，农场工人是弱势群体。在这里，我们整合了美国人口化学生物监测数据和毒性结果数据，以根据农场工作历史和公民身份评估农药暴露情况。我们发现，农场工人和无美国公民身份的人更有可能接触到毒理学检测中具有生物活性的农药浓度。因此，在美国就业但非公民的农场工人可能因农药而面临更大的健康危害风险。这些发现对于制定监管科学的循证政策以促进工人安全非常重要。