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The goal of this analysis is to evaluate the effectiveness of a promotora program for teaching women in Latino farmworker families about pesticide safety and increasing pesticide safety behaviors. Volunteer promotoras delivered a pesticide safety curriculum (intervention) and nutrition curriculum (control) to farmworker women residing in western North Carolina and Virginia. Pre-and postintervention interviews assessed differences in delivery of the intervention, recognition of the intervention, pesticide knowledge, pesticide exposures behaviors, and integrated pest management behaviors. Participants in the intervention group reported significantly more receipt of pesticide education and greater recognition of the key messages. However, their knowledge, pesticide exposure behaviors, and integrated pest management behaviors did not change. A more structured program is needed to be sure that the dose of interventions is large enough to overcome educational and cultural characteristics of immigrant communities. Policy changes are needed to address circumstances outside of farmworkers' control that affect pesticide exposure.

The collection of environmental samples presents a responsibility to return information to the affected participants. Explaining complex and often ambiguous scientific information to a lay audience is a challenge. As shown by environmental justice research, this audience frequently has limited formal education, increasing the challenge for researchers to explain the data collected, the risk indicated by the findings, and action the affected community should take. In this study we describe the development and implementation of a risk communication strategy for environmental pesticide samples collected in the homes of Latino/a migrant and seasonal farmworkers in a community-based participatory research project. The communication strategy was developed with community input and was based on face-to-face meetings with members of participating households. Using visual displays of data effectively conveyed information about individual household contamination and placed it in the context of community findings. The lack of national reference data and definitive standards for action necessitated a simplified risk message. We review the strengths and weaknesses of such an approach and suggest areas for future research in risk communication to communities affected by environmental health risks.

Children of farmworkers can be exposed to pesticides through multiple pathways, including agricultural take-home and drift as well as residential applications. Because farmworker families often live in poor-quality housing, the exposure from residential pesticide use may be substantial. We measured eight locally reported agricultural pesticides and 13 pesticides commonly found in U.S. houses in residences of 41 farmworker families with at least one child < 7 years of age in western North Carolina and Virginia. Wipe samples were taken from floor surfaces, toys, and children's hands. We also collected interview data on possible predictors of pesticide presence, including characteristics of the household residents, cleaning practices, and characteristics of the home. All families were Spanish-speaking, primarily from Mexico. Results indicate that six agricultural and 11 residential pesticides were found in the homes, with agricultural, residential, or both present in 95% of homes sampled. In general, residential pesticides were more commonly found. Presence of both types of pesticides on the floor was positively associated with detection on toys or hands. Agricultural pesticide detection was associated with housing adjacent to agricultural fields. Residential pesticide detection was associated with houses judged difficult to clean. Although the likelihood of agricultural pesticide exposure has been considered high for farmworker families, these results indicate that residential pesticide use and exposure in this population merit further study.