Assessing the Effectiveness of Executive Order 12898: Environmental Justice for All?

Abstract

This article examines several federal and state laws, such as the Worker Protection Standards and the Florida Pesticide Law, to determine whether the goals of these laws are being achieved in the State of Florida. A survey based on questions pertaining to various laws was used to gather data on farm workers in three South Florida counties. Face–to–face interviews were conducted with farm workers in Palm Beach and Indian River counties, Florida, in 1997 and in Collier County, Florida, in 1999. Overall, the findings indicate that farm workers in South Florida have been exposed to pesticides through direct or indirect spraying. The findings of the study reveal that federal and state laws—currently in place to protect the workers from pesticide exposure—are not effectively implemented, and farm workers are uninformed of the laws that exist to protect them from pesticide exposure. The study concludes with policy recommendations that will improve the implementation and enforcement of the current laws, which are designed to protect farm workers from pesticide exposure.

Difficult socio-economic circumstances and the utilization of risk information: A study of Mexican agricultural workers in the USA

“…The reduction of significant chemical risks among field labourers largely depends on the provision of risk and protection information, and the subsequent adoption of healthprotective behaviours by the exposed population (Flocks et al 2001, Murphy-Greene andLeif 2002). However, some research suggests that responsiveness to health messages or communications may be less than optimal in some populations, particularly among those individuals living in poverty (Lynch et al 1997).…”

“…Some research, in fact, suggests that simply supplying farm workers with risk information with the goal of reducing pesticide exposure is not the most effective strategy to protect the health of these workers (e.g., Reeves andShafer 2003, Quandt et al 2006). Consequently, an alternative approach might be to focus on implementation and vigorous enforcement of industry-wide regulations that require employers to provide self-protective clothing, prohibit workers from entering fields immediately after pesticides have been applied and discontinue economic incentives that compromise safety (Murphy-Greene and Leif 2002). For this population, enforcement of laws limiting exposure is crucial for adequate protection from the harmful effects of pesticide exposure, and the provision of risk and safety information alone cannot be expected to reduce risk to acceptable levels (Murphy-Greene and Leif 2002).…”

Green Harms and Crimes

“…The switch to OPs did not solve these health problems because these are just as toxic to human health (see Goodman, 2011 for research on pesticide exposure in the womb): recall that varieties of OPs can be traced back to being used as forms of nerve gas in the Second World War. Obviously, human health is threatened most significantly among the farmers who apply the pesticides (Murphy-Greene and Leip, 2002), but the switch to OPs is not a solution to the adverse health effects of pesticide exposure. Current information from the Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health (2012) claims that exposure to large amounts of OP pesticides is more harmful to human health than the same amount of OC pesticides.…”

“…Policies that aim to protect farmworkers from hazardous pesticide materials failed due to a lack of effective monitoring of how much pesticide was actually being used and how much exposure workers experienced (Murphy-Greene and Leip, 2002). This, along with inadequate funding and a lack of inspectors, means that pesticide laws are often inadequately enforced and thus fail.…”

“…This, along with inadequate funding and a lack of inspectors, means that pesticide laws are often inadequately enforced and thus fail. For example, there were cases in Florida where a large number of Spanish-speaking farmworkers had to use products which contained written warnings about their hazardous nature that were only in English -Spanish warnings were unavailable (Murphy-Greene and Leip, 2002).…”