Agricultural Pesticide Use in the Home: A Community-based Education Program to Promote Safe Pest Control Practices in Urban Neighborhoods in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

Mexico has experienced unprecedented rural to urban to migration as the effects of rapid industrialization and globalization have made it virtually impossible for families to survive from subsistence farming. The border city of Ciudad Juarez, drew rural workers by the thousands. Making less than $10/day, workers live in unincorporated neighborhoods that often lack running water and sewerage systems and suffer numerous vermin infestations. Residents commonly use “polvo de avion” (airplane dust), a highly toxic methyl parathion-based powder to kill cockroaches. Public campaigns to warn residents about “polvo de avion” were largely ineffective.

From 2006-2008 four community-based organizations partnered to assess the extent of the problem and develop effective educational interventions. They conducted extensive in-home surveys with 760 households and found that 48% used “polvo de avion”. The CBOs piloted interventions that trained lay health workers to educate residents to reduce the use of methyl parathion and promote safer pest control methods and waste management practices. The use of lay health workers incorporates a long tradition of educacion popular (non-formal participatory education) in Mexico. Several educational materials including comic books that offer an interesting story along with information about the health effects of pesticides and ways to reduce exposure, were developed and used. 640 households participated in interventions. This presentation will share the results of the needs assessment and the evaluation of the intervention which measured changes in knowledge, attitude and behaviors, including the percent change in the number of families using less toxic pest control products.