As temperatures get hotter, pesticides are more dangerous to farmworkers

Rising temperatures are making pesticide exposure increasingly dangerous for America's farmworkers. Ars Technica reports that climate change intensifies the harm in several ways: heat stresses the body and makes it more vulnerable to toxic chemicals, while the protective clothing worn in hot conditions adds further stress. Higher temperatures also increase pesticide evaporation, boosting exposure as more chemicals drift into the air, and heat can chemically transform pesticides into more toxic compounds. Omanjana Goswami, a scientist at the Union for Concerned Scientists, explains the exposure pathways: farmworkers inhale pesticides, absorb them through skin—and sweating from work increases skin pore size, allowing deeper absorption. 'It is awful,' Goswami says. 'There is no other word for it.' This occupational hazard affects the nation's two point four million farmworkers.

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