EPA Awards $30k to Texas Tech to Educate Migrant Farmworkers on Health Effects of Pesticide Use

  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted $30,000 to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso for the Farmworkers Pesticide Use Protection Project.
  • The project aims to educate migrant farmworkers and their families about the health effects and safe use of pesticides.
  • The education program is a collaboration between the EPA and the Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health (SWCPEH) at TTUHSC El Paso.
  • The project involves community health workers called “promotores” from Familias Triunfadoras Inc. providing education on pesticide health.
  • The EPA considers environmental impacts and addresses health disparities as part of its Children’s Health Policy and Strategic Plan.

By: TTUHSC El Paso | January 27, 2023

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a grant of $30,000 to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso for the Farmworkers Pesticide Use Protection Project. The project will educate migrant farmworkers and their families on the health effects and safe use of pesticides as they work along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The educational project is part of a collaboration between the EPA and the Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health (SWCPEH) at TTUHSC El Paso.

Early exposure to pesticides can affect health later in life, including negative effects to the nervous and endocrine systems in the body. The SWCPEH has partnered with promotores, or community health workers, from Familias Triunfadoras Inc. to educate the local migrant farmworker community. These underserved communities often have poor access to basic necessities and are most in need of preventative and routine health care.

Promotores will be providing pesticide health education to the migrant farm workers and developing curriculum.

Read more from TTUHSC El Paso.