The Keokuk County Rural Health Study: Preliminary Results of Environmental Exposure Assessments

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The Keokuk County Rural Health Study is a unique, population-based, prospective study of an agricultural community. The study is expected to continue for twenty years. The research includes systematic assessment of respiratory disease, injury, and other health outcomes in relation to agricultural, occupational, and envi56ronmental exposures. The aims of the environmental surveys are: (1) to conduct a systematic assessment of rural households in order to characterize the environmental exposures associated with the residences and properties of the study subjects comparing farm, rural non-farm, and town households; and (2) to characterize occupational exposures associated with activities of the study subjects, particularly those related to farming and the rural environment. The environmental surveys consist of a combination of personal interviews, walk-through observations, and measurement of a selected number of environmental parameters. The focus of these assessments is on the environment and operations of the household and farm. Four instruments are used to record data: a Home Environmental Questionnaire; a Home/Grounds Environmental Checklist; a Farm Environmental Questionnaire; and a Farm Environmental Checklist. Preliminary results from the first 106 environmental assessments are described, including the first 26 farms. More than half of residences were built before 1950, and they are primarily heated with liquid propane gas, natural gas, or wood. Dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide were measured in several homes during winter 1995/96. Only 77 of 148 smoke detectors functioned. Farms ranged from 7 to 1,600 acres, with a mean of 324 acres. Eleven raised swine in enclosed systems. The average age of tractors in use was 26 years. Twenty-eight percent of all tractors had cabs, 25% had ROPS, and 39% had PTO shields. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: getinfo@haworth.com]