Intense heat causes health problems among sugar cane workers
Intense heat causes health problems among sugar cane workers
October 24, 2014
Hard work under hot sun causes health problems for sugar cane workers in Costa Rica, such as headache, nausea, and renal dysfunction. The presence of symptoms is also expected to increase in line with ongoing climate changes, according to a dissertation from Umeå University.
Hot weather and hard labor is resulting in dehydration and negative health effects in men that cut sugarcane. According to recent research in Costa Rica, sugarcane harvesters experience headache, tachycardia, fever, nausea, difficulty breathing and dizziness on a regular basis during the harvest season. Urine samples taken before and after the work shift demonstrated that dehydration is common in harvesters. For many harvesters there were also indications of potential kidney injury in urine samples that contained protein, blood, leucocytes and casts.
"Results from this Costa Rican study demonstrate worrisome health outcomes in men employed to cut sugarcane. The heavy work these workers do combined with the hot weather and insufficient drinking water, make them feel ill and place them at risk for a potentially fatal condition known as heat stroke," said Jennifer Crowe, employed at the National University in Costa Rica, who conducted the work as part of her doctoral dissertation at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the School of Medicine, Umeå University.
In this study, the energy needed to cut sugarcane was calculated and, using internationally recognized guidelines, a heat limit value was determined, above which working at 100% effort puts a worker at risk of becoming overheated and ultimately suffering a potentially fatal condition known as heat stroke. After calculating this limit, researchers measured heat in the field and found that this limit was often reached as early as 8:00 in the morning and that the risk for adverse health effects increases throughout the rest of the shift.
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