Effects of Educational Intervention on Urinary Metabolite Levels among Indigenous Farmworkers

Background: Limited research is available on pesticide safety training and subsequent changes in pesticide exposure for adult indigenous farmworkers. Objective: Community Participatory Approach was implemented to assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention in reducing short-term pesticide exposure among indigenous farmworkers.

Methods: In-person interviews and urinary metabolite samples were collected from 102 farmworkers reporting they spoke indigenous languages and worked in nursery operations in Oregon. Farmworkers were assigned to either a promotora training (intervention) or Workers Protection Standard (WPS) video training (control). The molar equivalent values of the organophosphate metabolites were summed to determine the total urinary organophosphate metabolite level for each participant at baseline and follow-up.

Results: The intervention and control groups showed significantly reduced total metabolite levels from baseline to follow-up, though these differences were not significantly different between groups (p=0.641). The intervention group showed the greatest decline in total metabolite levels with an average reduction of -527 nmol/g Creatinine (SD=837, p<.0001) compared to controls with an average reduction of -279 nmol/g Creatinine (SD=534, p=0.008). For the 69 subjects who had reduced metabolite levels at follow-up, 52% showed higher pesticide knowledge test scores.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that both the WPS video and promotora training improved pesticide knowledge among indigenous farmworkers and thereby may have served to reduce pesticide exposure. Educational interventions of any kind may be effective in decreasing pesticide exposure for indigenous farmworkers. More research is needed to apply findings to a broader group of indigenous farmworkers and characterize the effectiveness of varied educational intervention strategies.