Agricultural Chemical Safety Awareness Program for Farm Wives and Children

Abstract

ABSTRACT Agriculture is one of the nation's most dangerous occupations. One of the contributing reasons for this is the use of chemicals. To ensure proper use of pesticides, one of the most dangerous groups of these chemicals, states require Pesticide Applicator Training for people who handle pesticides. Unfortunately, little training is available for people who have casual contact with farm chemicals such as farm wives and children. Because of the acute danger of small quantities of some of these products, as well as the chronic effects of long-term exposure, it is vitally important to promote educating these two groups. With this in mind, The University of Iowa developed an informative program to teach farm wives and children about farm chemical safety. A Farm Chemical Safety Guide was developed which provides details on organizing a program. The guide was disseminated at a training program held for farm safety commu-nity leaders.