222425 Social, cultural, and individual factors of Latino residents in the U.S.-Mexico Border as determinants of social disparities increasing exposure to residential pesticides

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Patricia M. Juárez-Carrillo, PhD, MPH , Center for Environmental Resource Management, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
Mark W. Lusk, PhD , College of Health Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
Amitava Biswas, PhD , Speech Pathology, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
Patrick Gurian, PhD , College of Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Sharon Thompson, PhD, MPH, CHES , Health Promotion, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
Barry Benedict, PhD , Center for Environmental Resource Management, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
  
Pesticides are considered as one of the most significant neurotoxicants found in homes, especially in urban and semi-urban settings where cockroach and rodent pests can be a significant problem. Contrary to scientists or policy makers, the public tends to conceptualize the risks of exposure within a comprehensive social paradigm. Residents in the U.S.-Mexico border region respond to a continual exchange and assimilation of factors from two nations, languages, and cultures. In addition to individual perceptions, these social factors suggest an increased risk of exposure to residential pesticides for Latino residents in the border. These socio-cultural conditions merit further exploration of environmental risks within a social justice perspective.

A study with 252 Latino mothers of children 11 years of age or less was conducted in both sides of the border. Their beliefs, perceptions, and practices will be described in this presentation. Results show a proportion of participants indicating that their lease manager did not notify them prior to application of pesticides. Others reported using banned products, or with a label in a language they did not understand. These practices impose a health hazard and augment barriers to reduce exposure at children's homes.

Individual factors examined include the perceptions about the safety of pesticides according to the odor, the health harms according to exposure duration, and the perceptions about using pesticides before and during pregnancy, and during breastfeeding. Moreover, a comparison of the participants' perceived levels of trust on various sources of information (e.g. health agencies, community centers) will be presented.

Learning Areas:
Environmental health sciences

Learning Objectives:
Learning Objectives. At the end of the session, participants will be able to: 1) Identify the social, cultural, and individual factors of urban Latino residents in the U.S.-Mexico borderland that augment the risks of exposure to residential pesticides 2) Compare the levels of trust of Latino populations on various sources of information about pesticides 3) Extrapolate the socio-cultural factors prevalent in the U.S.-Mexico borderland to the Latino populations in the U.S. that may increase the disparities of risk of exposure to residential pesticides.

Keywords: Pesticide Exposure, Risk Factors

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the co-principal investigator and general coordinator of the implementation of the study presented
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4319.0: Social justice and public health: Environmental, occupational, and international perspectives **Special intersectional track on environmental justice and occupational justice**