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DATE RECORDED: Wednesday, June 17, 2014
PRESENTED BY: Matthew Keifer, MD, MPH, Dean Emanuel Endowed Chair/Director National Farm Medicine Center

Webinar: Pesticide poisonings. Are you prepared?
View Recorded WebinarParticipant Evaluation

EOH iconMCN’s Environmental and Occupational Health Programs

Learn more about MCN’s training and technical assistance programs to help clinicians and health centers improve the recognition and management of pesticide exposures and other environmental/occupational health conditions.

 

Mistakes can be dangerous. Accurate identification of pesticides responsible for a patient's illness is important to avoid iatrogenic errors with respect to acute treatment.  Join us for an important webinar that will focus on key decision points in the diagnosis of pesticide exposures and emphasize the usefulness of the newly revised resource for clinicians - The Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings, 6th ed.  Through interactive case studies, this webinar will illustrate effective recognition and treatment of patients over exposed to pesticides. 


The webinar, sponsored by Migrant Clinicians Network, the National Farm Medicine Center and AgriSafe Network features Dr. Keifer, a board certified occupational medicine specialist and internationally renowned researcher regarding pesticides and agricultural health and safety. For over 30 years, Dr. Keifer has focused his clinical practice and research largely on farmworkers. 

SPONSORED BY: AgriSafe Network, Migrant Clinicians Network, and the National Farm Medicine Center

OBJECTIVES: Participants will be able to:

  1. Better recognize the signs and symptoms of pesticide overexposure
  2. Identify key decision points in diagnosing pesticide exposures
  3. Demonstrate an understanding of how to use The Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings, 6th ed. in a clinical setting

We encourage all participants to order The Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings, 6th ed. prior to attending this webinar. Order here. PDF versions are also available at http://www2.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/recognition-and-management-pesticide-poisonings
If you have experienced any trouble ordering your copy please contact: kbrennan@migrantclinician.org 

 

 


CLINICAL TOOLS & RESOURCES



PATIENT EDUCATION MATERIALS



ARCHIVED WEBINARS & TRAINING RESOURCES



LOCAL PESTICIDE RESOURCES


The following will provide information regarding the pesticides used in your areas:

Limited data document the multiple and repeated pesticide absorption experienced by farmworkers in an agricultural season or their risk factors.

Laboratory studies and case reports of accidental exposure to large amounts of chemicals indicate that there are immediate and long‐term negative health consequences of exposure to agricultural chemicals. 

The goal of this study was to describe acute occupational pesticide-related illnesses among youths and to provide prevention recommendations. Survey data from 8 states and from poison control center data were analyzed.

Concern about the adverse public health and environmental effects of pesticide use is persistent. Recognizing the importance of surveillance for acute occupational pesticide-related illness, we report on surveillance for this condition across multiple states. Between 1998 and 1999, a total of 1,009 individuals with acute occupational pesticide-related illness were identified by states participating in the SENSOR-pesticides program. 

In response to limitations in state-based occupational disease surveillance, the California Department of Health Services developed a model for surveillance of acute, work-related pesticide illness. The objectives were to enhance case reporting and link case reports to preventive interventions. Risk factors for pesticide illness were prevalent. 

The California Pesticide Illness Surveillance Program (PISP) is a major resource for pesticide illness epidemiology. This work attempts to improve characterization of pesticide illness in California, evaluate case ascertainment of the PISP and identify PISP’s limitations and biases for studying the incidence and epidemiology of pesticide-related illness. 

Public health surveillance for acute pesticide intoxications is discussed. Explanation of the goals, components and functions of population-based surveillance is provided with reference to key informational sources.

Pesticide Action Network, United Farmworkers of America, and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation analyzed California government data on agricultural poisonings and enforcement of worker safety standards. Nearly 500 pesticide poisonings were reported for California farmworkers every year. The actual number of pesticide-related illnesses is unknown, since many poisonings go unreported. 

Surveillance data show that pesticide-related illness is an important cause of acute morbidity among migrant farm workers in California. Exposures occur in various ways (e.g., residues, drift), suggesting that the use of pesticides creates a hazardous work environment for all farm workers  Improved education for health care providers should be a priority. Growers should be educated about alternative forms of pest control and incentives should be provided to encourage their use.

Describes the growth from 1987 through 1996 of the Occupational Pesticide Poisoning Surveillance Program at the Texas Department of Health. The program was initially based on a Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks (SENSOR) model, using sentinel providers to report cases, supplementing the passive reporting by physicians that was required by law. 

The CHAMACOS study is a longitudinal birth cohort study examining chemicals and other factors in the environment and children's health. 

In 1999-2000, CHAMACOS enrolled 601 pregnant women living in the agircultural Salinas Valley.  They are following their children through age 12 to measure their exposures to pesticides and other chemicals and to determine if this exposure impacts their growth, health, and development. 

California Poison Control System developed an online game that focuses on poison prevention through the use of "look-a-like" pills and candy. There are other resources on the site. The game is available as an app on itunes and in the android marketplace. Search for 'Choose your Poison.'

This website and training material were developed to give communities and promotores ways to help farm workers learn how to protect themselves from pesticide exposure.

The project and all materials on the website were developed by the California Poison Control System in collaboration with the the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety at the University of California, Davis and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.

Download Resource

This web site houses a collection of information, contacts and resources to assist health practitioners in providing care to migrant farm workers. Although the primary intended audience is health care providers in Ontario, much of the information may be useful to other parties.

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) provides for federal regulation of pesticide distribution, sale, and use. All pesticides distributed or sold in the United States must be registered (licensed) by EPA. Before EPA may register a pesticide under FIFRA, the applicant must show, among other things, that using the pesticide according to specifications "will not generally cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.''

Haz-Map® is an occupational health database designed for health and safety professionals and for consumers seeking information about the adverse effects of workplace exposures to chemical and biological agents. The main links in Haz-Map are between chemicals and occupational diseases. These links have been established using current scientific evidence.

The importance of clinical diagnostic tools and biomonitoring of exposures to pesticides as well the role of clinicians in pesticide reporting and the challenges clinicians face in accurately diagnosing patients exposed to pesticides are described in a presentation by Matthew Keifer, MD, MPH and Amy K. Liebman, MPA. Click on the link for an APHA policy resolution underscoring the need for clinical diagnostic tools and biomomitoring of exposures to pesticides. This policy supports the information outlined by in the presentation.

This EPA report contains the latest estimates of agricultural and nonagricultural pesticide use in the United States.

Download Resource

The Toolkit is a combination of easy-to-use reference guides for health providers and user friendly health education materials on preventing exposures to toxic chemicals and other substances that affect infant and child health.

A useful resource for health professionals interested in the health effects of exposure to specific chemicals and hazardous substances.

Any clinician in CA that suspects a patient is suffering from pesticide poisoning is required to report this information. Use this link to access forms and numbers to assist in reporting.
This useful link offers clinicians information on how to report a pesticide incidents in CA, training materials and other pesticide resources.
1-800-222-1222/ 24 hours per day
Phone
North Carolina now has a mandatory reporting rule for clinicians. Follow this link to easily report pesticide exposure in North Carolina.
View reports from this EPA program that brought together a wide variety of program stakeholders who participated in a an assessment of the Worker Protection Standard and workgroups focusing on general training issues, a national pesticide safety train-the-trainer pilot, and a hazard communication pilot and issues with the pesticide applicator cetification regulation and training program.
Pesticide Program: Illness Monitoring and Prevention
One-stop location for current toxicity and regulatory information for pesticides. Easy access to reporting guidelines for each state.