During a decade of research among sugar cane workers in Mesoamerica, the LIN research team has repeatedly demonstrated that heat stress is a preventable risk factor for kidney disease. However, heat stress is not the only occupational hazard in the cane fields. Cane cutting with machetes, carrying of heavy loads, and stooped positions during weeding are risk factors for musculoskeletal problems. Dust exposure from the dry soil and air pollution from the burning of cane fields before harvest is highly visible.
In a recently published study, personal air pollution exposure during a workday was measured in 133 workers with different jobs in a large sugar mill, in a collaboration between occupational hygienists from the Netherlands and El Salvador.
The measurements were performed in January 2020 and repeated in March, when temperatures were higher and humidity lower. A special focus was to measure exposure to respirable crystalline quartz (one form of silica) which is a well-known risk factor for respiratory diseases, and which also is being explored as a risk factor for kidney disease.
As expected, particulate air pollutant levels were higher in March than in January, and higher for jobs performed in dry soil and in the burned cane fields. Thus, the job title “sugarcane worker” alone is an insufficient proxy for particulate exposures, and future work among sugarcane workers should consider more than job title alone when assessing particulate exposure. Notably, the levels of respirable crystalline quartz were largely undetectable, and significant respiratory or kidney disease risks from these particles is thus unlikely among these workers.
La Isla Network is an occupational health research and advisory nonprofit dedicated to ending heat-related illnesses among workers and their communities worldwide. We develop and implement data-driven worker protection and management assessment protocols to improve the resiliency of workforces and businesses to heat stress. Our work is backed by best-in-class researchers, industry leaders and government and multilateral institutions like the ILO. For more information please use our contact form.
