The proposed study is an interdisciplinary community-based environmental research program focusing on pesticide contamination in agricultural communities. It is a collaborative endeavor bringing together the Oregon Health Sciences University Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology (CROET) and the Oregon Child Development Coalition in the development of a multiphase research project. The project will be led be a research advisory board that includes members of the agricultural community, health and social service agencies and academic institutions.
The specific aims of the study are to: (1) compare the levels of pesticides in homes as a function of the type of agricultural crop the parents work with, the types of pesticides commonly used on the crops, proximity of housing to the field and characteristics of the home; (2) evaluate specific health outcomes associated with pesticide over-exposure in both workers and their children and to evaluate specific biomarkers; and (3) assess the effectiveness of the Migrant Headstart program as a mechanism for delivering culturally-appropriate environmental health prevention strategies.
