Assessing occupational pesticide exposure in Latin America and the Caribbean: Methods review for agricultural vulnerability reduction

Abstract

B A rapid review was conducted to describe pesticide exposure assessment methodologies in Agricultural Work Contexts (AWC)s in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), in order to provide elements to reduce vulnerabilities within the agricultural population. A final number of 79 articles were selected from Medline via Pubmed, LILACS, and SciELO. In the region, family agriculture is the predominant form of agricultural production (72%) in informal agricultural work contexts (AWCs), which are characterized by small-scale diversified agricultural production, lower educational attainment, limited income, and a lack of social and healthcare security for the families. Indirect exposure assessment methods were the most commonly reported (58%), and its use was associated with informal AWCs (p = 0.011). Understanding AWCs and employing appropriate assessment methods can contribute to addressing vulnerabilities in the agricultural sector.

Keywords:

• Agriculture
• exposure
• methods assessment
• occupational exposure
• pesticides

Disclosure statement

The authors reported no potential conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a project of the secretariat of science and technology (SECYT) of the National University of Cordoba under Grant 32720220400134CB and Ms. Melisa Romero Asís is also the recipient of a doctoral scholarship under Grant 32920200100124CB.