Cincinnati – Female farmworkers have a rate of acute pesticide-related illness approximately twice that of males, according to new research from NIOSH.

Researchers analyzed surveillance data from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and the Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks-Pesticides program, according to the study abstract. They found that female farmworkers who did not handle pesticides were more likely than men to work on fruit and nut crops, be exposed to fungicides and fumigants, and be exposed to pesticide drift, a NIOSH press release stated.

The report was published online April 11 in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.