Acute health effects of community exposure to cotton defoliants.

In September and October of 1987, the California Department of Health Services responded to community complaints by investigating the relationship between health symptoms and community exposure to cotton defoliants. Symptoms experienced during the 1987 cotton defoliation season by 232 residents of cotton-growing communities were compared with symptoms of 175 residents of non-cotton-growing agricultural communities. Fatigue, eye irritation, rhinitis, throat irritation, nausea, and diarrhea were statistically elevated in rates adjusted for age, sex, and race and were reported 60-100% more frequently by respondents living or working near sprayed cotton fields than by the comparison group. These symptom rate elevations were substantially unchanged even after adjustment by a model of potentially confounding factors that included cigarette smoking, chronic illness, and some additional demographic variables.