Reducing Dermal Exposure to Agrochemical Carcinogens Using a Fluorescent Dye-Based Intervention Among Subsistence Farmers in Rural Honduras

Abstract

Background: Occupational exposure to agrochemicals, some of which are known or suspected carcinogens, is a major health hazard for subsistence agricultural workers and their families. These impacts are more prevalent in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) due to weak regulations, lack of awareness of the risks of contamination, general lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), and low literacy about proper agrochemical application techniques. Fluorescent tracer dyes have been described as a means of visualizing and quantifying dermal exposure to agricultural chemicals, and dye techniques adapted for LMICs have been developed previously. These tracer dyes have also been used in educational demonstrations about pesticide safety. However, studies evaluating the efficacy of these educational dye interventions in reducing exposure have been lacking. Aim: To evaluate whether observing one's own chemical contamination after applying agrochemicals changed the amount of occupational dermal exposure during a subsequent chemical application. Methods: We used a multimodal community intervention in a rural village in Honduras that incorporated chemical safety education and use of a fluorescent tracer dye during pesticide application and compared dermal exposure between the intervention group (previous dye experience and safety education) and the control group (safety education only). Results: Mean total visual score (TVS) of the tracer dye, which accounts for both extent and intensity of contamination, was lower among those who had previously experienced the dye intervention (mean TVS=41.3) than among participants who were dye-naïve (mean TVS=78.4), with a difference between means of -37.10 (95% CI [-66.26, -7.95], P = 0.02). Conclusion: That workers who had experienced the dye demonstration once before were significantly less contaminated on average when compared with the dye-naïve group indicates that a multimodal community intervention that utilizes fluorescent dye visualization may be effective in reducing dermal exposure to carcinogenic agrochemicals among subsistence farmers in LMICs.