WASHINGTON – The issue of pesticide exposure and farmworkers was being debated this week on Capiiol Hill. Farmworkers from around the nation want Congress to toughen rules on pesticides commonly used in agriculture.

According to the North Carolina Farmworker Institute, there are 150,000 farmworkers in North Carolina. Every year, said farmworker advocate Jeannie Economos, thousands of them report poisoning from pesticide exposure - and many of them ask her for help.

"They need stronger protections," she said. "These people are feeding us and yet they're not getting the same protections that are afforded all other workers in this country."

While a majority of workers in the United States are protected by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, protection for farmworkers is handled by the Environmental Protection Agency. The farmworkers are asking members of Congress to strengthen regulations set by the EPA that they say have not been revised for more than 20 years.

"You wouldn't be able to be doing your job right now, and I wouldn't be able to be here doing my job, if I had to grow my own food and produce my own food so I could eat," she said.

Farmworkers and their advocates are asking for more comprehensive pesticide safety training, additional safety precautions, protective equipment and medical monitoring of workers who handle neurotoxic pesticides.

This comes as North Carolina’s Junior Senator Kay Hagan is among those leading an effort for less regulations on pesticides, saying compliance with provisions of the Clean Water Act do not provide any additional health benefits. The act requires permits for the applications of certain pesticides on or near waterways.

(With Assistance from Stephanice Carson, North Carolina News Service)