Reducing Pesticide Exposure and Associated Neurotoxic Burden in an Ecuadorian Small Farm Population

Abstract

The contribution of community-based interventions, including farmer field schools (FFSs) in integrated pest management (IPM), to reducing pesticide exposures and associated neurotoxic burden among small-farm families in Ecuador was assessed in three Andean farming communities in a co-design of targeted action-research. Baseline questionnaire surveys elicited pesticide-related knowledge, practices, and exposure and neurobehavioral assessments were done using an adapted WHO battery. Pesticide applications on plots farmed by FFS versus non-FFS participants were compared. A year later, repeated surveys of participating households (n = 29) and neurobehavioral testing of individuals (n = 63) permitted comparisons of pre- and post-intervention values. The FFS graduates applied pesticides on their plots less frequently (p = 0.171). FFS households had increased pesticide-related knowledge of labels and exposure risk factors (both p < 0.004), better pesticide-handling practices (p < 0.01), and less skin exposure (p < 0.01). Neurobehavioural status had improved, particularly digit span and visuo-spatial function, resulting in overall z-score increases. Thus, community interventions reduced pesticide use, reported skin exposure, and neurotoxic burden among smallholder farm families.

Community and household socioeconomic factors associated with pesticide-using, small farm household members' health: a multi-level, longitudinal analysis

“…These measures are also strongly influenced by lifetime education and age [16]. In a subsequent intervention evaluation, the measures were responsive to reductions in exposure and sub-acute pesticide-related neurotoxicity [17]. In neither of our studies did we find economic gradients in neurobehavioral measures, perhaps due to relative homogeneity within one canton (equivalent to a county).…”

“…Regarding the fourth explanation (and our first hypothesis), only a few intervention evaluations exist, including our earlier work in which more intensive interventions resulted in more substantial improvements [17]. Community intervention coverage was important for crop managers, being more involved in agricultural interventions, while household managers had difficulties participating in activities [21,29].…”

“…For our health outcome, we sought a neurobehavioural measure [14] which had been associated with life endowments (education) and neurotoxic pesticide exposure [13] and which could be responsive to health educational interventions aimed at reducing pesticide use and practicing safer pesticide management [17]. Given our scaling up from three communities in our earlier intervention research to twenty four communities in this project, we also needed a measure which was feasible for a lay person to administer reliably and quickly.…”

Use of the Environmental Impact Quotient to Estimate Health and Environmental Impacts of Pesticide Usage in Peruvian and Ecuadorian Potato Production

“…The EIQ is composed of three hazard components: farm worker, consumer and environment, which obviously are not the same in all locations. Based on a rapidly increasing body of knowledge, hazards to farm workers (and their families) is higher in the developing world than in industrialized countries [34,35]. The current EIQ values do not take into account differences in application technology or in use of personal protective equipment (Kovach J, pers.…”

Self-Organization and the Bypass: Re-Imagining Institutions for More Sustainable Development in Agriculture and Food

“…Following the implementation of over 125 FFS in Ecuador, independent ex-post studies found that the approach deepened and broadened biological and ecological knowledge in rural families in ways that unlocked creativities and new subjectivities [73]. For example, experience in FFS enabled substantial fine-tuning of social and agronomic nuances in potato production that led to improved production economies and decreased exposure to neurotoxins [74], with measureable improvements in productivity and human health [75].…”