Each year many exposure episodes involving workers and/or their families are reported to state agencies and included in annual pesticide incident reports. The Washington State Department of Health makes these Pesticide Incident Reporting and Tracking (PIRT) reports. In recent public debates about farm worker pesticide exposure issues, references were made by some parties to PIRT data. DOH issued two documents providing data on reported worker exposure cases and a guide to interpret the data to ensure accuracy in discussions.

The PIRT reports reflect only a small percentage of actual exposure and illness incidents. State Department of Health focus groups found that 75% of the participating farm workers said they had been made ill by pesticides at work, but few had reported this. For a copy of the DOH report on the focus group results, contact:

Joanne Bonnar Prado

Department of Health
joanne.prado@doh.wa.gov
877-485-7316