Abstract
The incidence of skin disease in California agricultural workers was reported for the years 1978 to 1983 by Standard Industrial Classification. The results were taken from the Supplementary Data System for California agricultural businesses. Only those injuries or illnesses resulting in one or more days lost work were included. There were 11.5 cases per 10,000 employees, and 77.6 percent of claimants were male. Plants were the greatest cause of injury or illness representing 50 percent of the cases followed by chemical exposure (20.4 percent) and food products (12.5 percent). The highest number of plant dermatology claims were in forestry, landscaping services, horticulture and soil preparation services which produced 53.5, 35.9, 15.9 and 9.9 cases per 10,000 employees, respectively. The occupations reporting exposure to chemicals were horticulture, crop services, poultry and egg production, vegetables and melons, general crop farms and soil preparation services. Employees in vegetable and melon production also experienced a high rate of exposure to food products. The authors suggest further studies to elucidate specific plants and chemicals that cause disease or injury to agricultural employees.
