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The Myriad Health & Safety Risks for Cannabis Workers

The Myriad Health & Safety Risks for Cannabis Workers

Oct 25, 2023
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
In the remote forests of the far northwestern corner of California, dubbed the Emerald Triangle, the cannabis trimming season is underway. From September to December, migrant farmworkers from…
Pesticides and Racism: From Manufacturing, to Delivery, to Application. Here's how to fix it.

Pesticides and Racism: From Manufacturing, to Delivery, to Application. Here's how to fix it.

Nov 16, 2022
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
Follow the life of pesticides, and you will find structural racism at every step. From manufacturing to usage, the health of people of color and people with low income are disproportionately at…
Farmworkers harvesting watermelon

New Study Shows People of Color Shoulder Burden of Harms Caused by Pesticides

Apr 19, 2022
By: MCN Admin
Farmworkers, people of color, and low-income communities have the highest levels of exposure and harm from pesticides, according to a peer-reviewed study published this week in BMC Public Health.…
Farmers installing irrigation equipment in the dark

Overtime Pay: Why Are Farmworkers Excluded?

Feb 10, 2022
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
Last week, the New York State Wage Board passed three resolutions that will finally provide overtime for farmworkers working for more than 40 hours a week. The resolutions also delineate a ten-year…
A truck sprays pesticide on a field

Chlorpyrifos Ban Will Protect Farmworker Childrens' Health, But A Full Ban Is Still Needed

Aug 25, 2021
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the ban of the use of chlorpyrifos on food crops. Migrant Clinicians Network celebrates the long-overdue ban of this dangerous…
Alma Galván, MCH, MCN’s Senior Program Manager; Laszlo Madaras, MD, MPH, MCN’s Chief Medical Officer, Eva Galvez, MD, from MCN’s Board of Directors; Mily Treviño-Sauceda, Executive Director of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Inc.; and Amy Liebman, MPA, MCN’s Director of Environmental and Occupational Health, at PACT 2021.

MCN Brings Much-Needed Farmworker, Clinician Perspectives to Pesticide Conference

Jul 29, 2021
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
Alma Galván, MCH, MCN’s Senior Program Manager; Laszlo Madaras, MD, MPH, MCN’s Chief Medical Officer, Eva Galvez, MD, from MCN’s Board of Directors; Mily Treviño-Sauceda, Executive Director of…
A machine spraying pesticide in orchard

Long Path to Nationwide Ban: Chlorpyrifos and Farmworker Health

May 5, 2021
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
Last week, after years of effort from environmental health and farmworker advocates, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to essentially ban…
A vehicle spraying pesticides on a field

MCN’s Ed Zuroweste Asks NY to Ban Chlorpyrifos

Apr 13, 2021
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
Good evening. My name is Dr. Ed Zuroweste. I am a family physician providing health care and other services for migrant farmworkers for over 40 years and I am the Founding Medical Director of…
Farmworker sprays pesticide

MCN Joins Lawsuit to Stop Trump Administration’s Rollback of AEZ, A Critical Pesticide Rule

Jan 5, 2021
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
The Worker Protection Standard (WPS) is the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory standard that protects farmworkers from pesticide poisoning. But the Trump Administration has actively…
A vehicle spraying pesticides on a field

EPA Weakens Pesticide Standards; Endangers Health of Rural Communities

Nov 5, 2020
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rolled back a critical safeguard for farmworker health: the application exclusion zone, or AEZ. The AEZ is an important part of the Worker…
Pages of the comic book

MCN Comic Book and Training Curriculum Helps Farmworkers Stay Safe From Pesticides

Aug 11, 2020
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
COVID-19 is hitting farms hard. While outreach teams shift to provide COVID-19 prevention and support, they also continue to support farmworkers to avoid ongoing occupational hazards. Insecticides,…
Participants of training in Laredo, TX.

How A Workplace Injury Inspired A Worker: Workers' Rights and Train-the-Trainer in Laredo, TX

Mar 26, 2020
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
MCN's Kate Kruse and Alma Galvan with the participants of the Train-the-Trainers workshop in Laredo, TX.In all areas of work, people face the risk of injury on a daily basis. From acute injuries that…
Orange trees in an orchard

Antibiotics in Orange Groves: Resistance for the Masses, Unknown Health Consequences for the Farmworkers

Jul 2, 2019
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
In May, the New York Times ran an article on the recent and significant increase in the use of antibiotics on orange groves in Florida to combat citrus greening disease, a bacterial infection…
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Year in Review: Protecting Farmworker Children from Environmental Contaminants

May 20, 2019
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
After an incredibly successful first year, Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN) and our partner, East Coast Migrant Head Start Project (ECMHSP) are ready and excited to kick off the second year of our…
Farmworker sprays pesticide on field

New US Senate Bill Matches State Bills Seeking to Ban Chlorpyrifos

Mar 28, 2019
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
By Sofia Carrasco Earlier today, Senator Tom Udall introduced legislation that would ban chlorpyrifos across the nation. The bill, entitled Protect Children, Families and Farmworkers from Nerve…
amy testifies for the ban of chlorpyrifos

MCN Stands Up for a Ban on Chlorpyrifos in Maryland

Feb 14, 2019
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
By Sofia Carrasco Yesterday, Migrant Clinicians Network’s own Amy K. Liebman testified in front of Maryland’s House Environment and Transportation Committee in support of HB 275 for a Maryland-…
Training parents as community health workers

In the Field: Training Parents as Community Health Workers to Protect Children from Environmental Hazards

Sep 12, 2018
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
The downpours over the weekend ahead of Hurricane Florence did not dampen the spirits of the 14 farmworker parents participating in MCN’s Community Health Worker (CHWs) training in collaboration with…
Farmworker girl coughs into hands

Pesticide Poisoning in Monterey: 17 Sick Workers, No Violations

Aug 16, 2018
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
"I began crying because I couldn't breath and my vision was blurred," one unidentified worker said."I had a severe headache, nausea, sore throat and numb feet," another employee said.In the early…
Woman farmworker putting on scarf

Medical-Legal Partnership: Helping Pregnant Agricultural Workers Avoid Pesticide Exposure with Aaron Voit, Esq.

Aug 7, 2018
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
photo credit: Alan PogueIn the spring, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation announced that 209 million pounds of pesticide active ingredients were used in 2016 across the green fields of…
Child Eating Food

Farmworkers deserve protection from pesticides: Defend important regulations and take part in National Farmworker Awareness Week #NFAW2018

Mar 29, 2018
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Farmworkers face substantial health risks at their jobs, including exposure to pesticides. At Migrant Clinicians Network, we have spent decades fighting for a stronger Worker Protection Standard, and…
Child's face over bed of leaves - Illustration by Jessica Johnson

Children in the Fields: Environmental Protection Agency Reconsiders Minimum Age Protections

Feb 28, 2018
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Illustration by Jessica JohnsonTwo years ago, Juan,* a sixteen-year-old farmworker, was tasked to apply pesticides to a field of tobacco in North Carolina. Juan mixed and applied the pesticides with…
What's New - MCN's Rosie Sokas Urges Maryland to Ban Chlorpyrifos

MCN's Rosie Sokas Urges Maryland to Ban Chlorpyrifos

Feb 8, 2018
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
“Please consider the impact of this chemical on the health of Marylanders, particularly those who are most vulnerable and most exposed.” - Rosemary Sokas, MD, MOH Last year, the US Environmental…
child reading a book with her dad

Migrant Clinicians Network Receives Aetna Grant for Health Education for Farmworker Parents

Oct 31, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Migrant Clinicians Network has been selected as a grantee in the Aetna Foundation’s Cultivating Healthy Communities program and was awarded a $100,000 community grant to implement a new program…
man spraying pesticides on plants

From the Fields to the Exam Room: MCN Trains Thousands on Pesticide Poisoning Response

Sep 21, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Pop quiz: Before Migrant Clinicians Network trainings, what percentage of surveyed primary care clinicians knew if reporting pesticide exposures in their state was required? Read on to find the…
man spraying pesticides on plants

Pesticide Poisoning in Monterey: What Went Wrong and What Comes Next?

Jul 5, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Last month, we wrote about a pesticide poisoning that sickened over 50 agricultural workers in Bakersfield; the neurotoxic pesticide chlorpyrifos is thought to be responsible. A month later and 200…
man standing in field of smoke

Pesticide Poisoning of Farmworkers in Bakersfield

May 10, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Last week, more than 50 agricultural workers were sickened when exposed to pesticides while working in a cabbage field near Bakersfield, California. "We started getting an odor, pesticide odor,…