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Patient Education: Pesticides

Migrant workers in a field holding baskets of produce

Juan Abre los Ojos is an illustrated pesticide safety comic book created by Migrant Clinicians Network.

Through Juan’s story, readers learn how pesticide exposure happens at work, how pesticides can affect workers’ health in the short and long term, and practical ways to reduce exposure and protect themselves and their families.

The comic is designed for farmworkers and agricultural workers and can also be used by community health workers/promotores de salud, outreach workers, nurse practitioners, physicians, nurses, and other health professionals who serve agricultural communities. Written in an engaging, easy-to-understand format, this educational resource can be used for farmworker training, pesticide safety education, community health outreach, occupational health education, and worker health programs to better understand and ensure compliance with the Worker Protection Standard, a federal regulation from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designed to reduce pesticide poisonings and injuries among agricultural workers and pesticide handlers.

In 2026, the Hawai'i Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity partnered with MCN to translate the comic into five additional languages. We are proud to offer these translations and celebrate the partnership as an example of how agencies, organizations, and communities can build on existing educational resources to increase access for workers and families with diverse language needs.

The comic is available to download at no cost and can be shared digitally or printed for use with farmworker families and communities. You can use it in conjunction with the Worker Protection Standard Pesticide Safety Training Curriculum, a customizable PowerPoint presentation, flipchart, and facilitator’s guide in English and Spanish.

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Normas de protección


Worker Protection Standard Pesticide Safety Training Curriculum - Culturally and linguistically appropriate curriculum with supporting resources for training workers on the revised Worker Protection Standard. Developed by the Florida State University PISCA Project and Migrant Clinicians Network.

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Señales y síntomas de envenenamiento por pesticidas

Developed by the California Poison Control System in collaboration with the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety at the University of California, Davis and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation

Links

MCN Spanish educational comic book that addresses pesticide exposure in women of reproductive age. LO QUE BIEN EMPIEZA...BIEN ACABA: Consejos para las mujeres para prevenir daños a la salud y a sus bebés causados por pesticidas.

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Three printable brochures on Asthma, Lead and Pesticides produced by Farmworker Justice. 

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Pesticides Nearby But Healthy: A Guide to Protect Children from Pesticides is an illustrated pesticide safety comic book from Migrant Clinicians Network created for migrant and seasonal farmworker families. It helps parents and families understand children’s risk of pesticide exposure and ways they can reduce that exposure and protect their children’s health.

Written in an engaging, easy-to-understand format, the comic can be used for pesticide safety education, farmworker and agricultural worker outreach, parent education, community health programs, and environmental and occupational health education. It can also serve as an educational resource for community health workers, promotores de salud, outreach workers, clinicians, and others who work with agricultural communities.

In 2026, the Hawai'i Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity partnered with MCN to translate the comic into five additional languages. We are proud to offer these translations and celebrate the partnership as an example of how agencies, organizations, and communities can build on existing educational resources to increase access for workers and families with diverse language needs.

The comic is available to download at no cost and can be shared digitally or printed for use with farmworker families and communities.

We are currently "sold out" of our printed pesticide comic book. We are looking for additional funding. In the meantime, please download an e-copy.

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A Spanish language trifold with pesticide safety information.

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A Spanish language comic books that explains the dangers of pesticides and offers practical, less toxic approaches to pest control. Produced by the Center for Environmental Resource Management at UTEP.

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The manual is a guide that can be used by community workers, educators, and health promoters for their educational activities in the community. It provides information on the risks of exposure to environmental contaminants and pesticides and ways to reduce those risks. It also includes useful information and tips for working in the community. 

As for the comic book, community workers, educators and health promoters can use it as an educational tool to inform their community about the risks of environmental contaminants and pesticides. 

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Pesticide and Pregnancy Handout, English and Spanish, from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

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