EPA Grant Awarded to TTUHSC El Paso to Educate Migrant Farmworkers on Health Effects of Pesticide Use

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Jan. 27, 2023

Newswise — EL PASO, Texas — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a grant of $30,000 to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso for the Farmworkers Pesticide Use Protection Project. The project will educate migrant farmworkers and their families on the health effects and safe use of pesticides as they work along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The educational project is part of a collaboration between the EPA and the Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health (SWCPEH) at TTUHSC El Paso.

Early exposure to pesticides can affect health later in life, including negative effects to the nervous and endocrine systems in the body. The SWCPEH has partnered with promotores, or community health workers, from Familias Triunfadoras Inc. to educate the local migrant farmworker community. These underserved communities often have poor access to basic necessities and are most in need of preventative and routine health care.

Promotores will be providing pesticide health education to the migrant farm workers and developing curriculum.

“Collaboration between our center and the promotores is an integral part of our project,” said Stormy Monks, Ph.D., regional director of the Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health Region 6, Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit. “We were very fortunate to connect with a group of promotores who have strong ties to the migrant farmworker community and are able to provide insight on their specific needs.”

As part of the EPA’s Children’s Health Policy and Strategic Plan, the agency considers environmental impacts at all stages and addresses health disparities so all children, no matter their ZIP code, race or income, can be protected equally under the law.

“Not only do farmworkers have pesticide health hazards in the field, but they can bring these hazards to high-risk individuals at home, including elderly family members, pregnant spouses and small children,” said Diego Garcia, life scientist at the EPA’s Land, Chemicals, and Redevelopment Division Pesticide Program. “They need to be educated on basic pesticide safety.”

Basic safety measures to avoid a pesticide exposure include:

• Avoiding getting pesticides on your skin and body.
• Wearing protective clothing like long-sleeved shirts, pants and hats to work.
• Washing hands before eating or drinking.
• Washing body and hair thoroughly and putting on clean clothes before entering your home.
• Washing work clothing separately from non-work clothing.

Fewer incidents mean a healthier workforce and fewer lost wages, medical bills and absences from work and school.

“The EPA is excited to continue developing our partnership with TTUHSC El Paso to improve our children’s environmental health outcomes,” said EPA Region 6 Administrator Earthea Nance, Ph.D. “Understanding and evaluating the impacts of pesticide use is a high priority, and we have so much more to learn in this area. We look forward to seeing the results of the study and congratulate TTUHSC El Paso and the Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health on this grant.”

About Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health

Housed at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Department of Emergency Medicine, the Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health (SWCPEH) is one of 10 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSUs) in the United States. PEHSUs serve as a network of experts in children’s environmental health with our regional PEHSU covering Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Support for the SWCPEH comes from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and funded (in part) by a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (CDC/ATSDR). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supports the PEHSUs by providing partial funding to CDC/ATSDR through an Inter-Agency Agreement.

For more information, visit swcpeh.org.

The mission of the PEHSU program is to improve reproductive and children's health by leading the integration of environmental health into clinical care and public health while supporting communities to address historical injustices and ongoing environmental racism and address the existential threat of climate change.

For more information about the PEHSU program, visit www.pehsu.net.

About TTUHSC El Paso

TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It’s designated as a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care leaders, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation college students.

TTUHSC El Paso was established to focus on the unique health care and educational needs of our Borderplex community. In 2023, TTUHSC El Paso will celebrate its 10th anniversary as an independent university within the Texas Tech University System. In a decade, the university has graduated over 2,000 doctors, nurses and researchers, and will soon add dentists to its alumni.

This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement 02F21901 to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does the EPA endorse trade names or recommend the use of commercial products mentioned in this document.