Reducing the Take-Home Pathway of Pesticide Exposure: Perspectives of Mothers in Farmworker Households

Farmworkers are routinely exposed to pesticides at work and this exposure has the potential to affect not only the health of farmworkers but their household members as well. Pesticide residue that accumulates on farmworkers' clothing, shoes, skin, and in their work vehicles may inadvertently be brought into the home, risking exposure of children and other household members (1, 2). Children are more susceptible than adults to pesticide exposure in the home because of their time spent near the floor and their distinct hand-to-mouth behaviors and are also more vulnerable to the harmful effects because of their faster metabolic rate (3). Farmworkers are advised to take the following precautions to reduce this take-home pathway of pesticide exposure: wash their hands immediately after work; store and wash work clothes separately from household laundry after one use; shower and change out of work clothes immediately after work; and remove work shoes before entering the home (4). Studies have found that many farmworkers do not take these precautions (2, 5) yet the reasons underlying these behaviors are not clear. The purpose of this work was to investigate the family and cultural context in which these precautions are performed, and to identify factors that facilitate or hinder adoption of these behaviors within the household. We explored these issues in indepth interviews with Mexican and Mexican-American women in farmworker households with young children because of women's traditional role as caretaker of the home and family.