The Keokuk County Rural Health Study is a unique, population-based, prospective
study of an agricultural community in Iowa. The research includes in-depth evaluations
of respiratory disease, injury, and other health outcomes in relation to environmental
and occupational exposures. This article reports descriptive findings on pesticide use
from among the first 653 participants completing occupational surveys. Thirty-one
percent of respondents (farmers and non-farmers) had applied insecticides, and lawn
and garden chemicals at home during the past year. Forty-one percent of respondents
had personally mixed or applied farm chemicals during their life. Eleven percent had a
current pesticide applicator’s license, but only 1% worked as a custom pesticide
applicator. Information on the specific types of pesticides and protective measures used
were obtained for the 95 individuals who had mixed or applied pesticides on farms
within the previous year. Of these individuals, 69% worked with fertilizers, 52% with
herbicides, 48% with crop insecticides, 44% with crop storage insecticides, 26% with
livestock insecticides, and 11% with fungicides. The use of personal protective
equipment such as gloves, aprons, and respirators varied depending on the chemical. A
significant proportion did not use gloves even for mixing. Thirty-four percent reported
at least one symptom after working with pesticides during the previous year. In
addition to providing a detailed description of pesticide use by farmers in this
midwestern population, these data will be used to evaluate exposure-response
relationships in conjunction with health outcome data from the Keokuk County Rural
Health Study.