Resumen
Conventional banana production is one of the agricultural sectors with a
prevalent use of a wide and varying range of pesticides,; mostly fungicides,
followed by insecticides, nematicides, and herbicides (Deknock et al., 2019). Of
the global 18.1 million tons of banana exports in 2017, one third was produced
in Ecuador. Bananas are conventionally produced in large scale monocultures
on farms hiring workers on a temporary basis (Brisbois, Harris, & Spiegel,
2018). Among the large variety of tasks workers perform, pre- and postharvesting pesticide applications are common. In addition, aerial fumigation
while workers are on the fields was described - affecting not only the workers
but also the neighbours and the general environment (Brisbois et al., 2018;
Deknock et al., 2019). Safety training and provision of personal protective
equipment are frequently lacking on these farms. Other factors impacting farm
workers’ health are lack of education, low and precarious income, as well as
poor housing conditions (Brisbois et al., 2018). To our knowledge, so far, few
studies have investigated the potential effect of pesticide use in banana
plantations and respiratory symptoms of the banana workers (Fieten, Kromhout,
Heederik, & van Wendel de Joode, 2009; Schenker et al., 2004). Therefore, the
objective of this study was to compare the prevalence of respiratory symptoms
among banana farm labourers in Ecuador to banana packers working on the
same farms as the banana farm laborers, but that do not spray pesticides.
Título traducido de la contribución | Prevalencia de síntomas respiratorios en trabajadores ecuatorianos de plantaciones de banano |
---|---|
Idioma original | Inglés |
Título de la publicación alojada | Prevalence of Respiratory Symptoms among Ecuadorian Banana Plantation Workers |
Lugar de publicación | Munchen |
Editorial | Rainer Hampp Verlag |
Páginas | 78-86 |
Número de páginas | 9 |
Volumen | 15 |
ISBN (versión digital) | 978-3-95710-247-8 |
Estado | Publicada - abr. 2019 |