Acute Pesticide-Related Illness Among Farmworkers: Barriers to Reporting to Public Health Authorities.

Farmworkers are at high risk of acute occupational pesticide-related illness (AOPI) and AOPI surveillance is vital to preventing these illnesses. Data on such illnesses are collected and analyzed to identify high-risk groups, high-risk pesticides, and root causes. Interventions to address these risks and root causes include farmworker outreach, education, and regulation. Unfortunately, it is well known that AOPI is underreported, meaning that the true burden of this condition remains unknown. This article reviews the barriers to reporting of farmworker AOPI to public health authorities and provides some practical solutions. Information is presented using the social-ecological model spheres of influence. Factors that contribute to farmworker AOPI underreporting include fear of job loss or deportation, limited English proficiency (LEP), limited access to health care, lack of clinician recognition of AOPI, farmworker ineligibility for workers' compensation (WC) benefits in many states, insufficient resources to conduct AOPI surveillance, and constraints in coordinating AOPI investigations across state agencies. Solutions to address these barriers include: emphasizing that employers encourage farmworkers to report safety concerns; raising farmworker awareness of federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and increasing the availability of these clinics; improving environmental toxicology training to health-care students and professionals; encouraging government agencies to investigate pesticide complaints and provide easy-to-read reports of investigation findings; fostering public health reporting from electronic medical records, poison control centers (PCCs), and WC; expanding and strengthening AOPI state-based surveillance programs; and developing interagency agreements to outline the roles and responsibilities of each state agency involved with pesticide safety.

Acute Illness Associated with Exposure to a New Soil Fumigant Containing Dimethyl Disulfide-Hillsborough County, Florida, 2014.

Dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) is a new soil fumigant that is considered a replacement for methyl bromide. In 2014, the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) received several complaints of illness following a strong DMDS odor in Hillsborough County. Public health investigation of DMDS-related illness was conducted to assess illness and identify areas to target for prevention activities. This investigation included surveillance, interviews, review of medical records, review of supporting documentation, and determination of pesticide-related illness and injury case status. FDOH interviewed 66 people complaining of illness related to DMDS. Thirty-two were classified as possible and 11 as suspicious cases of DMDS-related illness. Among cases, the mean age was 48 years (range: 3-71 years). The majority were non-Hispanic (n = 43, 100%), white (n = 40, 93%), and female (n = 23, 53.5%). The most common signs and symptoms reported by exposed people included eye pain, throat irritation, nausea, dizziness, headache, and fatigue. There were 88% of cases classified as having low severity of illness and 12% classified as having moderate severity. The average distance from an application site among individuals who reported being exposed at or near their home was 0.74 miles for those classified as cases (n = 36) and 2.84 miles for those not classified as cases (n = 21, P < .05). This is the first known comprehensive report of DMDS-related illness in humans. Even though illnesses associated with DMDS in this investigation were generally of low severity, it is important to identify better ways to prevent off-target movement of DMDS and to improve notification to communities when nearby DMDS applications are planned.

Notes from the Field: Acute Sulfuryl Fluoride Poisoning in a Family - Florida, August 2015.

On August 19, 2015, the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) was notified by the Florida Poison Information Center Network and a local hospital of possible sulfuryl fluoride poisonings affecting a family in Martin County, in southeastern Florida. Sulfuryl fluoride is a highly toxic (toxicity category I) gas fumigant used for termite control of homes and buildings.* FDOH personnel in Martin County commenced an investigation and identified a family of five (a grandmother, mother, father, son, and daughter) exposed to sulfuryl fluoride after their house was fumigated. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Criminal Investigation Division also conducted an investigation after being notified by FDOH. Medical records were reviewed, and the father was interviewed by FDOH.