Assessing migrant workers' respirable risk from processing onions.

Advanced practice nurses (APNs) serve vulnerable populations in many settings. Data about the health risks in vulnerable populations are frequently collected from urban or inner-city areas. However, many APNs work in rural area with migrant populations who have health risks related to agricultural s...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:American Journal for Nurse Practitioners Vol. 13; no. 11/12; pp. 40 - 45
Autor principal: Reavis C
Formato: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: NP Communications, LLC (New Jersey) Nov/Dec2009
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Advanced practice nurses (APNs) serve vulnerable populations in many settings. Data about the health risks in vulnerable populations are frequently collected from urban or inner-city areas. However, many APNs work in rural area with migrant populations who have health risks related to agricultural settings. Most migrant farmworkers are poor immigrants with limited literacy, economic resources, and healthcare access. Contributing to their health risks are occupational hazards, including repeated exposure to allergenic dust particles. This exposure to agricultural dust particles may manifest in the form of mild irritation to chronic cough to life-threatening disease. The allergens associated with onion processing and their possible role in causing respiratory diseases have not yet been fully explored; therefore, the respirable dust risk (RDR) posed to farmworkers' health is unknown. The purpose of this pilot research was to assess RDR in migrant workers who were processing onions at a farm in Georgia. The results are reported and the implications are discussed.