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Agricultural Practices

California’s San Joaquin Valley (SJV) offers a unique opportunity to study how exposure to particulate matter emissions from targeted agricultural practices and activities affect farmworker health.

WCAHS Education and Outreach Expands

WCAHS Education and Outreach received a five-fold increase in funding with the 2016-2021 grant renewal and is putting these new resources to good use.

WCAHS Director Marc Schenker Retiring

Dr. Marc Schenker, Director of the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (WCAHS), is retiring at the end of June.

Dr. Schenker founded the WCAHS, one of the original two National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health Agricultural Centers.  There are now 11 regional centers covering the United States. WCAHS’s region includes Arizona, California, Hawai’i, and Nevada. Dr. Schenker has directed WCAHS for over 25 years.

Building Worker Power to Transform Agriculture

Recommendations from the California Institute for Rural Studies following heat illness prevention study.

Bleak Outlook for California Farmworker Health Coverage Prospects

Approximately half of California’s 650,000 farmworkers have no health care coverage. The other half receives seasonal coverage from their employer for a few months of the year and/or relies on Medi-Cal / Covered California eligibility.

WCAHS Participates in Knights Landing Health Fair

This past October, WCAHS participated in a community health fair held at the Knights Landing United Methodist church. Many different organizations, including WCAHS, set up tents and booths in the church courtyard to provide free health and safety information as well as basic health screenings.

Fighting in the Dirt

Biosolarization simply means harvesting the power of biology (bio) plus the sun (sol) to kill pests. Add plastic and compost, and you are ready to roll.

Protect Yourself with Integrated Pest Management

University of California Integrated Pest Management (UC IPM) program. IPM provides scientifically based information on how to effectively deal with pests whether they are natural or exotic or in urban, agricultural, wildland or natural areas.

Students Study Effects of Ag Particulate Matter Exposure

This issue highlights three students who have worked with WCAHS Associate Director, Dr. Kent Pinkerton, to better understand how exposure to California agricultural particulate matter contributes to allergic airway inflammation.