BUSINESS JOURNAL (North Carolina)

April 10, 2006

Researchers: Farmworkers' health at risk due to inadequate housing

Wake Forest University researchers say that Hispanic farmworkers and their families are at high risk of being exposed to disease, toxins and overcrowding, and thus having their health threatened, because they live in inadequate housing.

"Our findings suggest that the health of farmworker families is at risk due to inadequate housing," Thomas Arcury, the lead researcher on the study, said in a news release. "It is important to improve these conditions because of the vital role they play in the state farm economy and, therefore, the state economy of North Carolina."

Researchers from the university's School of Medicine did four surveys of farmworkers in 2001 and 2003, which is where the data for the research came from.

The study, which is reported in the April issue of the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, is based on data from 234 households.

Most families interviewed for the study lived in mobile homes in a state of disrepair, and many of those are located near fields, where exposure to pesticides is higher.

Living in crowded conditions, the researcher say, can increase the risk of infectious diseases and can damage the workers' psychological health.