Farmwoker Environmental Health Research Comparable Data
Biography
Overview
A greater understanding of the causes and health effects of environmental exposures of farmworkers and their family members would be gained if research studies used data collection procedures, laboratory procedures, and measures that resulted in comparable outcome and predictor data. Such comparable data would allow the direct comparison of results from the publications of different studies. Comparable data would also allow two or more studies to pool their data for common analysis and reporting of results. The goal of this project is the establishment of comparable data collection, laboratory analysis and measurement standards for research and intervention projects focused on the pesticide exposure and environmental health of farmworker populations. Specifically, this conference will: (1) establish investigator working groups to develop consensus documents for comparable data in four areas of environmental health in farmworker populations: (a) environmental exposure assessment for pesticides, (b) biological exposure assessment or biomarkers for pesticides, (c) personal and exposure characteristics, and (d) health outcomes; (2) convene a conference of the investigators from all of the working groups to review, discuss and refine the comparable data standards in these four areas; and (3) disseminate the comparable data standards in these four areas. This project will be completed in three phases during 2004. The pre-conference phase in which the investigators will develop reports on comparable data consensus documents will be completed before August 15, 2004. The conference phase in which all of the investigators discuss and critic the comparable data reports will occur in September 2004. The post-conference revision and dissemination of the reports will be completed by the end of December 2004.
The conference will be convened in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Participants will be limited to 15 to 20 investigators with current projects examining pesticide and other environmental exposures of farmworkers, or be experts on specific data collection or measurement issue germaine to farmworker environmental exposures. The purpose of limiting the size of the conference is to facilitate active interaction, discussion and debate among leaders in the field.
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