Agricultural exposure history among African-American farmers in Georgia

Agricultural exposures differ across the United States by region, calendar time period, and agricultural practice, but most of the published literatur e focuses on white men in the Midwest. A pilot study was conducted to explo re the breadth and diversity of farming practices over time among African-A merican farmers in Georgia whose exposures may differ in important ways. Us ing a comprehensive life events calendar questionnaire, 17 male African-Ame rican farmers aged 36 to 86 yr residing in southeastern Georgia were interv iewed regarding their agricultural history in July 1997. Most men ( 15/17) reported working on multiple farms in their lifetime; 3 men worked on 5 dif ferent farms during their lifetime. These farmers reported using more chemi cals during their lifetime than farmers in the Midwest. Used motor oil was the most frequently reported insecticide applied to animals; this apparentl y common practice has not been described in the literature and should be be tter understood since its use may result in dermal exposure to polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Better characterization of regionally specific farming histo ry and individual farming practices will facilitate studies of the health e ffects of farming.