North Carolina Dept, of Agriculture & Consumer Services 1090 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, N.C. 27699
Britt Cobb, Commissioner Phone:
919/733-3556
Fax:
919/733-9796
Focus on Health:
The Agricultural Health Study in North Carolina
Since 1993, the National Cancer Institute, the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have j,
conducted a study in North Carolina and Iowa to
evaluate the health of rural communities.
Altogether, about 90,000 individuals are
participating.
In North Carolina, Private Pesticide Applicators
and their spouses - a total of over 31,000 -
are helping researchers learn more about
agricultural exposures, lifestyle choices, and
health. By including a large group of
individuals engaged in agriculture and updating
their information about every five years, the study
team will be able to learn more about factors that
are important to good health.
Participation
have provided biologic samples for gene and
gene-exposure analyses. Farmers in both states have
participated in studies that observed their
real-life farming operations and measured
chemical exposures in a variety of application
methods to understand more about
protection and risk.
Study participants have provided information through
questionnaires and telephone interviews. Many men and women
Being able to study health and exposure
changes over time makes the Agricultural
Health Study unique. The study is no
longer enrolling new participants, but it is
extremely important for everyone, including
V those who have retired or those who no longer
r farm, to participate in the new round of interviews
scheduled to begin in late 2005. All parts of the
study are reviewed and approved by boards
responsible for the protection of human subjects.
Information is kept confidential, and no individual is ever
identified in study reports.
3£Th
(See Agricultural Health Study, continued, Page 2)
Attention Farmers
Watch those Ammonia Tanks
By Ricky Langley (MD MPH) and
Sherry Giles (MPH), N.C. Department of Health & Human Services
Since September 11, 2001, most farmers have become aware of the need to safeguard
their pesticides and nitrate fertilizers and to look for suspicious outbreaks of diseases
among their farm animals. There is a new threat, however, crossing the United States,
and your help is needed. The new threat, a form of domestic terrorism, is the rise of
illegal methamphetamine labs across the country. These labs are increasingly being
found in rural areas of North Carolina.
Methamphetamine is an illegal drug. Common street names for this drug include crank,
go, uppers, beannies, ice, crystal, fast and zip. As these names suggest, methamphetamine
is a stimulant. It is one of the most addictive substances known and can cause numerous
adverse health effects in users. Children who live in homes where methamphetamine is
being manufactured may suffer health problems from exposure to the chemicals. Law
enforcement agents have also been injured when investigating methamphetamine labs.
So why do farmers need to be concerned? One of the methamphetamine manufacturing
methods, the Nazi/Birch method, uses ammonia. Trespassing on farms and theft from
ammonia storage tanks is on the rise across the country. Since the thieves often damage
the tanks rather than just steal the ammonia, a farmer frequently suffers a very significant
loss. Not only is he out the cost of the ammonia, but he also must incur the expense of
• Cleaning up the
Environment by Recycling
Plastic Containers
• Section 18 Emergency
Exemptions
• Pesticide Section Develops
Strategy for Pesticide
Storage at Home
Improvement Stores
• English for the Workplace
• The DEET Goes On
• Pet Groomer Sees Avoidable
Risks
• Ask the Inspector
• What’s New on the
Pesticide Section’s Website
• Board Actions
(See Watch Those Ammonia Tanks, continued, Page 3)
