GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Ferns may not trump roses in floral arrangements, but their fronds play an irreplaceable supporting role, adding color and symmetry.

Now University of Florida researchers are lending support to field workers in Central Florida’s leatherleaf fern industry by testing a portable hand-washing station workers can use to minimize their exposure to agricultural pesticides.

Researchers developed the station with input from employers, supervisors and workers, in response to fernery and nursery workers’ concerns about skin rashes, headaches and other health problems they attribute to on-the-job pesticide exposure.

According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, pesticides can lead to skin irritation or other illnesses, depending on toxicity, length of exposure and other factors. In Florida’s leatherleaf fern industry, pesticides are needed to control fungal diseases and insects.

“We realize it is not feasible for large-scale agricultural operations to completely eliminate the use of pesticides,” said Leslie Clarke, Ph.D., the project’s principal investigator and an associate professor of health policy and epidemiology at UF’s College of Medicine. “So we wanted to come up with a way to reduce pesticide exposure among workers who may come in contact with these chemicals. Hand washing seemed to be the easiest and least costly option.”

Hand washing might also prevent skin rashes and other health conditions that result from sensitivity to certain plants or field conditions, Clarke said.

Each lightweight hand-washing station consists of a framework constructed of PVC pipe or aluminum that holds a 10-gallon water tank, a container of liquid soap, paper towels and a garbage bag. Water is dispensed through a faucet at the bottom of the tank. Because the station is portable, it can be placed in close proximity to the field workers and moved along with them as needed.

“It’s just good common sense for anyone to wash their hands after working around pesticides,” said Norm Nesheim, Ph.D., a professor and pesticide specialist with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “For people working in fields with crops, having a source of water and soap will promote that practice.”

Hand-washing stations currently are being tested at one fernery and two nurseries in Central Florida. The pilot test, part of a $1.3 million federally funded project, will be extended to two ferneries in Volusia County this month.

After two months, researchers will interview employers, supervisors and workers to learn whether workers wash their hands more frequently.

UF researchers, in collaboration with staff from the Farmworker Association of Florida and experts with Tampa-based Best Start Social Marketing, began interviewing field workers about pesticide use and exposure in 1997. Their project, Together for Agricultural Safety, is funded by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Of nearly 400 fernery and nursery workers in Volusia, Lake, Seminole, Orange and Polk counties interviewed for the study, 79 percent of fernery workers and 31 percent of nursery workers reported skin rashes they attributed to pesticide exposure. Fernery workers were more likely to report experiencing swollen hands, allergies and headaches.

Fernery workers were less likely than their counterparts to wash their hands before eating, drinking, smoking, using the bathroom or leaving for home.

“We wanted to get workers in the habit of washing their hands,” Clarke said. “Our project is about changing behaviors and improving health.”

Federal regulations from the EPA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration require certain U.S. agricultural employers to provide decontamination or hand-washing facilities, with water, soap and single-use towels, for employees working in pesticide-treated areas.

“Because time is of the essence to these workers, they may not want to walk too far to wash their hands,” said Joan Flocks, J.D., M.A., a UF assistant professor of health policy and epidemiology and the project’s co-investigator. “That’s why portable stations are important. They can be placed where it will be easy for workers and supervisors to stop and wash during the workday.”

Project coordinators also are launching an educational program developed to promote hand washing. Posters, fotonovelas (booklets that tell a story with photographs), information packets and training sessions aimed at encouraging proper hand-washing practices and placement of the stations will be distributed at the farms.

The hand-washing stations and educational materials currently are provided at no cost to farms participating in the pilot test. If the test shows the program improves hand-washing behaviors, the stations and educational materials will be made available to agricultural employers statewide.

When funding for the project ends, Clarke said the stations could be sold commercially for about $200 each. Project coordinators also are considering putting stations at places workers visit in the community, including day-care centers and businesses, to encourage them to wash their hands before going home or picking up their children.

-30-

0