Forest fires are a growing risk to the health of farmers

In 2020, during the forest fires In California’s Sonoma County, Maria Salinas continued to harvest grapes as ash fell and smoke filled the air. Her saliva was black from inhaling the toxins, she said, and one day she had to go to the emergency room because she couldn’t breathe. When she got better, she returned to work as the fires continued.

“What forces us to work is necessity,” said Salinas from Oaxaca, Mexico. “We are always exposed to danger out of necessity, whether it be fire or disaster, when the weather changes, it is hot, cold.”

In the United States, wildfires are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change. According to recent research, wildfires pose a health risk to migrant farmworkers, like Salinas, who work in fire-prone areas. The report comes as wildfire smoke fills the air in many parts of the West.

Farmworkers face immense pressure to work in dangerous conditions. Many are low-income and don’t get paid unless they work. Others who are in the country illegally are more vulnerable due to limited English, lack of benefits, discrimination and exploitation. These realities make it difficult for them to obtain better working conditions and basic rights.

“The front lines of the climate crisis are expanding,” said Max Bell Alper, executive director of the labor coalition North Bay Jobs with Justice, during a webinar Wednesday about the article, published in July in GeoHealth magazine. He said farmworkers are “experiencing first and most powerfully what the rest of us are just beginning to understand… and I think in many ways that is analogous to what is happening across the country. What we are experiencing in California is happening everywhere now.”

Alper, whose nonprofit works in Sonoma and other neighboring counties, said most farmers are immigrants and indigenous and there are more women working in vineyards than before. In contrast, most wine industry owners are white men, she said.

The researchers focused on the 2020 wildfires in Sonoma, a region in northern California known for its wine. During those fires, many farmers continued to harvest wine grapes in mandatory evacuation zones that were considered dangerous for the general population. Smoke and ash can contaminate the fruit, increasing pressure to keep workers in the fields.

They compared different pollution data from AirNow and PurpleAir monitors in the county during the fires. AirNow is a government-run Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) station to monitor air quality and warn the public if levels are unhealthy. PurpleAir are monitors located throughout the county that members of the public can install in their homes or businesses.

Researchers found that farmworkers are exposed to high levels of air pollution, but that there were regional variabilities between PurpleAir and AirNow data. Between July 31 and November 6, 2020, AirNow data showed that there were 21 days of harmful air for sensitive groups and 13 days of harmful air for everyone. PurpleAir monitors indicated that there were 27 days of harmful air for sensitive groups and 16 for everyone.

Michael Mendez, one of the researchers and an assistant professor at the University of California, Irvine, said the AirNow data was not representative of the conditions where the farmworkers worked.

On several occasions, the smoke was worse at night than during the day. That detail is important, Méndez said, because some employers asked farmers to work at night, since it was better for the grapes because the temperature was cooler and the smoke less concentrated.

“Hundreds of farmworkers were exposed to toxic air quality from wildfire smoke and that could have a detrimental impact on their health,” said. “There was no post-exposure follow-up for these workers”.

The authors also examined the Agricultural Pass program, a system that allows farmers to access evacuation zones during disasters to irrigate or harvest crops. Their analysis revealed that the approval process for the program lacked established protocols or clear standards.

“With this research we hope to shed light on the inequalities these farmworkers are experiencing through wildfires.”“In their daily lives, they experience violations of occupational health and safety standards and injustices in society. But those problems are exacerbated or amplified even further during a disaster like a wildfire,” Méndez added.

Irva Hertz-Picciotto, a professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at UC Davis, said immediate symptoms of inhaling wildfire smoke include eye irritation, coughing, sneezing and difficulty breathing and can begin within minutes of exposure to smoke that has high levels of fine particulate matter, or PM2.5.

These particles are about 30 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. They can be inhaled deep into the lungs and cross into the bloodstream. Exposure has been shown to increase the risk of conditions including heart disease, asthma, and low birth weight. Combined with days of extreme heat, smoke can be even more damaging to human health.

A new study, released at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, also indicates that fine particles from wildfire smoke may increase the risk of dementia more than other air pollutants.

But not much is known about the long-term health effects of inhaling smoke, said Hertz-Picciotto — who was not part of the report — nor is there much knowledge about the consequences of chronic exposure.

Anayeli Guzmán was also harvesting grapes during the Sonoma wildfires in 2020. She remembers feeling fatigue, burning in her throat and eyes from the smoke and ash, but she never went to the doctor for a health checkup.

“We don’t have that option”said Guzman, who does not have health coverage.If I go for a check-up, it means either losing a day of work or having to pay a bill for a medical visit.”

Guzman also continued working during the California wildfires in 2017. “It is a difficult decision for farm workers to decide for their health or decide for their economy,” he said during the webinar. “It is also so sad to know that the owners of these vineyards are only concerned about getting their grapes so that the smoke does not affect the grapes, but they do not care that the smoke affects the people who are working.”

In the study, the researchers propose actions that leaders can take to protect the health and safety of farmworkers in evacuation zones. Among them is for state and county governments to provide funding for farmworkers to undergo health screenings after exposure to smoke.

They also propose that employers create emergency plans in multiple languages, that there be proper documentation of the number of farmworkers on worksites and the location of each site, that local air quality monitors be installed at worksites, that employers offer disaster pay when farmworkers work on days with high air pollution, and that the county evaluate the effectiveness of the Farm Pass program after the fires when the passes were issued.

Guzmán and Salinas say that better wages would also greatly help farmers like them.

“These are essential workers. The entire country’s food supply relies heavily on the agricultural worker population.”said Hertz-Picciotto. “And from a moral and health point of view it is really reprehensible… that measures have not been taken to protect workers. agricultural”. And this research is important to try to bring this to light with real recommendations.”.