The Girasoles (Sunflower) Study

描述(由申请人提供)：全球变暖趋势的不断升级使脆弱的农业人口患上与高温有关的疾病(HRI)的风险增加。农业工人是 由于日常职业暴露在炎热潮湿的环境中，极易受到热应激的影响。农业工人的年均高温死亡率是美国平民劳动力的近20倍。关于这一脆弱农业人口的危险工作环境的研究很少，也没有研究记录导致农场工人中与高温有关的发病率和死亡率增加的因素。到目前为止，对这一人群中的HRI的调查仅限于对热暴露的看法的调查，以及自我报告的与热有关的症状和降低热暴露风险的工作实践。我们建议在与佛罗里达州农场工人倡导团体建立的研究伙伴关系的基础上，研究HRI在农场工人人口中的威胁。我们的初步工作为我们提供了关于在脆弱的劳动人口中开展这项工作的可行性的重要信息。在此应用程序中 我们建议通过进行复杂的生物监测数据来更彻底地评估多个农场工人群体中与热相关的症状的性质，以探索职业环境内和职业间个体对热应激的生理反应与HRI症状患病率之间的关系。为了实现这一目标，我们将：(1)确定佛罗里达州中部畜牧场、农作物和苗圃工人对高温相关危险的暴露和工作活动特征；(2)表征佛罗里达州中部畜牧场、农作物和苗圃工人的生理热应激反应(例如，HRI和PSI)和工人对热暴露的脆弱性；以及(3)确定与高温相关的危险和工人脆弱性对佛罗里达州中部畜牧场、农作物和苗圃工人的热应激反应的影响程度。这项工作将提供关于农业工作中与高温有关的危险的关键的生理学信息，并将为制定干预措施提供信息，以减少与这些特别脆弱和独特的农场工人群体的工作环境有关的人力资源感染的风险。该项目将支持NIOSH的研究优先事项，减少环境和职业健康差距，并通过在这一群体和其他高危职业人群中采取防暑战略来促进健康。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Escalating trends in global warming place vulnerable agricultural populations at increased risk for heat-related illness (HRI). Agricultural workers are highly susceptible to heat stress, given routine occupational exposure to hot, humid environments. The average annual heat-related death rate for agricultural workers is nearly 20 times greater than that of the U.S. civilian workforce. There is a paucity of research characterizing the hazardous work environment for this vulnerable agricultural population and no studies have documented the factors that lead to the increased heat-related morbidity and mortality observed among farmworkers. To date investigations on HRI in this population have been limited to surveys of perceptions of heat exposure, and self- reported histories of heat related symptoms and work practices to decrease risk of heat exposure. We propose to study the threat of HRI in farmworker populations built upon established research partnerships with farmworker advocacy groups in Florida. Our preliminary work has given us important information on the feasibility of this work in a vulnerable working population. In this application we propose to more thoroughly assess the nature of heat related symptoms in multiple farmworker populations by conducting sophisticated biomonitoring data to explore the relationship between individual physiologic responses to heat stress and prevalence of HRI symptoms within and between occupational settings. To achieve this goal, we will: (1) Characterize worker exposure to heat related hazards and work activity characteristics of fernery, crop, and nursery workers in Central Florida; (2) Characterize the physiologic heat stress response (e.g., HRI and PSI) and worker vulnerability to heat exposures among fernery, crop, and nursery workers in Central Florida; and (3) Determine the extent to which heat related hazards and worker vulnerability influence heat stress response among fernery, crop, and nursery workers in Central Florida. This work will provide critical, physiologically- based information regarding the heat-related hazards of agricultural work and will inform the development of interventions to decrease the risks of HRI associated with the work environment of these particularly vulnerable and unique farmworker populations. This project will support NIOSH research priorities by reducing environmental and occupational health disparities and promoting health through heat-prevention strategies in this and other at-risk occupational populations.