[AODA members] [hen-l] Farming dangers - dust

[Heberlein, Editha P. Lt Col]

This is very educational and interesting for me.  Thanks.

I was doing a volksmarch (a sponsored walk that happens all over
beautiful towns in Germany, Europe, and also US and you get credited for
distance walked) this weekend.  I noticed fencing of wild berries
bursting with fruits.  I told my husband, what a great concept... dual
purpose. 

I lived in the city growing up in the Philippines and I was glad that we
had "gardening" as part of our curriculum in high school where the
students experienced how to create gardening plots, how to seed, and
care for a vegetable garden.  We would have never had that experience or
know how to do it if we did not have that experience that year.  
 
-----Original Message-----
From: aoda-members-bounces at list.eatrightoverseas.org
[mailto:aoda-members-bounces at list.eatrightoverseas.org] On Behalf Of
Stacia Nordin, RD
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 12:53 AM
To: ADA Dietetic Practice Group; AODA Member List
Subject: Re: [AODA members] [hen-l] Farming dangers - dust


A delayed input on this, but dust and smoke in the air is a such a huge
part of my life in Malawi that I can help but have a word or two.  The
whole sky is full of particles at this time of year.

We mulch our whole entire land with green manures and dry matter, we put
in lots of live fences (mixed hedge rows, often edible) and have a
no-till, no dust raising policy.

Unfortunately if is slow to spread to the neighbors and bare dirt is
seen as clean.  Long story, so I'll save it for another day.

Fortunately, times are changing!  The schools we are working with, along
with their parents, teachers and even district offices are getting the
hang of covering all bare dirt.  Check out the attached pdf pictures to
give you an idea of the changes.

It sure would be wonderful for HEN and AODA to have a lot more linkages
- the work of HEN is needed very, very badly all around the world!

Stacia Nordin, RD
Malawi

Allan Balliett wrote: 

		Farm workers seem to have an elevated risk of developing
a serious lung condition more typically seen in smokers, a study has
shown. 
		


	As a long time full time farmer, I think it is important to
consider the affect continuing world-wide droughts are having in the
amount of "dust" most any farming activity creates. Even on an organic
farm like ours, we are seeing dust problems creating eye irritations
(and I assume lung irritations as my major complaint this season has
been 'I can't get a decent breath') that we never experienced until a
couple of years ago. 
	
	I guess it's time to start wearing bandanas over our faces as we
work. (Am I kidding??) 
	
	-Allan Balliett 
	HEN Friend 
	Eastern Panhandle, WV 
	



-------- Original Message -------- 
Subject: 	[hen-l] Farming dangers	 
Date: 	Sat, 23 Jun 2007 21:07:24 -0400	 
From: 	Nancy Ortiz, R.D. <nrord at adelphia.net>
<mailto:nrord at adelphia.net> 	 
Reply-To: 	ADA Dietetic Practice Group <hen-l at list.cornell.edu>
<mailto:hen-l at list.cornell.edu> 	 


Farm workers seem to have an elevated risk of developing a serious lung
condition more typically seen in smokers, a study has shown. 

Austrian researchers found that among more than 1000 adults who
underwent tests of lung function, farmers were more likely than those
with other occupations to show signs of chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD). 

COPD is the collective term for emphysema and chronic bronchitis,
progressive diseases of the airways most commonly associated with
smoking. While smoking is the major risk factor for COPD, non-smokers
can also develop it. 

The new findings suggest that farming "should be considered a risk
factor" for COPD, the study authors report in the American Journal of
Industrial Medicine. 

It's not clear what particular aspects of farming might raise the risk
of COPD, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Bernd Lamprecht of
Paracelsus Medical University in Salzburg.

However, farming has been linked to other health consequences, including
higher risks of asthma and lung cancer, possibly due to pesticides or
other chemicals. 

In addition, Lamprecht's team writes, farmers consistently inhale
"agricultural dusts," which consist of organic materials from animal and
plant sources as well as inorganic materials in soil that can cause
inflammation in the airways. 

The study included 1258 men and women who underwent spirometry to test
their lung function. Twenty-three percent reported ever working on a
farm for three months or longer.

The lung function tests found that 30 percent of those farm workers had
at least mild COPD, versus 22 percent of non-farmers. Among study
participants who'd never smoked, one-quarter of farmers had COPD,
compared with 16 percent of those in other occupations. 

The study did not, however, look at the types of potentially hazardous
on-the-job exposures that participants had. "Therefore," Lamprecht and
his colleagues write, "we cannot even speculate on the causative
inhalable agents in agriculture." 

Nonetheless, they add, "our data confirm the urgent need for further
investigation."

SOURCE: American Journal of Industrial Medicine, June 2007. 


Reuters Health
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_51180.html