People who work on or next to farmland can be exposed to pesticides sprayed on neighboring fields, either directly or through spray drift. In Michigan, about 9.7 million acres, 26.6% of the state's land, are farmed, mostly with pesticides. State rules allow solar panels on farmland and open land next to it, and utility-scale solar power generation in Michigan grew 53% in 2023. Construction workers installing or maintaining solar panels may be exposed to farm pesticides while knowing little about their health effects.
Michigan's pesticide surveillance program, run by Michigan State University for the state Department of Health and Human Services, tracks acute pesticide illnesses at work and at home. State law requires the poison center, emergency medical services, physicians, hospitals and emergency departments to report them. In two separate events, the program identified 10 solar panel installers who needed medical care after pesticide exposure.
Event A: aerial spraying, August 2023
A licensed applicator flying an airplane sprayed a neighboring field with a fungicide (Miravis Neo) and a restricted-use insecticide (Tombstone), an estimated 12 to 50 yards from about 20 to 25 workers installing solar panels. Eight men aged 20 to 69 became ill immediately.
The company's safety manager called the poison center for advice 10 minutes after the exposure. The workers reported dizziness, nausea, coughing, irritated eyes, a numb mouth, headache, shortness of breath, chest tightness, skin redness, rash or irritation, and muscle weakness. All eight went to an emergency department that day, where they were put through decontamination showers, given intravenous fluids and tested, and all were discharged the same day.
- Symptoms cleared for four of them before discharge.
- Four were referred by their employer to an occupational medicine physician a month later for ongoing shortness of breath, cough, weekly headaches and sore throat.
- One, with persistent breathing trouble and cough, returned to the emergency department seven days later and was given inhaled and oral medication. Five weeks after the exposure he still needed treatment for new-onset asthma.
All the others had recovered within five weeks. Their eye, skin and respiratory symptoms matched the known effects of the pesticides.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), which oversees pesticide use, cited the applicator, without a fine, for using the fungicide against its label, which says not to apply it at wind speeds below 3 miles per hour; the applicator recorded 2 mph. Low wind raises the chance of gusty, shifting winds and of temperature inversions, which can spread pesticide widely in cold air trapped under warmer air, while wind above about 10 mph spreads the spray farther. The state occupational safety agency, MIOSHA, received no complaint. Six of the eight cases had not been reported by the emergency department as state law requires.
Event B: tractor spraying, May 2024
A tractor sprayed Roundup PowerMAX 3 herbicide an estimated 5 feet from about eight workers installing solar panels. Neither the company nor the workers had been told the spraying was planned. Two men, aged 30 and 49, developed sore throat, irritated and watery eyes, skin rash or redness, cough, chest pain, muscle weakness and headache within hours. One was treated in an emergency department that day and released within two hours. The other went to an emergency department after two days of symptoms and again four days after exposure for lasting muscle weakness, and improved with an anti-inflammatory drug. Their symptoms matched the herbicide's known effects.
MIOSHA cited the workers' employer for not making the herbicide's safety data sheet available to them within five days. MIOSHA does not regulate pesticide use, so it did not address the label's 4-hour restricted-entry interval, during which no one should be in the sprayed area. MDARD received no complaint.
Lessons
Michigan has about 16,000 registered pesticide products and about 25,000 licensed applicators. Restricted-use pesticides, which are more hazardous, can be bought only by licensed applicators, but anyone applying any pesticide must follow the label and know how to prevent drift, a common cause of acute pesticide illness. Knowing exactly which product was involved, and calling a poison center, helps clinicians treat exposed workers.
Pesticide regulators and workplace safety agencies play different roles. Regulators such as MDARD review application records and procedures, can test plants or clothing for drift if a complaint is filed promptly, can identify the product for exposed people, and protect everyone, including contractors, owners and children. Workplace agencies such as MIOSHA examine whether employers let workers know what they might be exposed to and considered controls and protective equipment. Working together, they can investigate and prevent exposures.
For applicators: read and follow all labeling; check whether the EPA Worker Protection Standard requires an application exclusion zone; keep enough distance from areas outside the target; and respect posted restrictions such as restricted-entry intervals.
For employers of workers in rural areas: farmers are not required to tell nearby nonfarm workers about spraying, so learn what farming goes on around each site, contact farmers about their spraying schedules, and have workers stay away or wear protective equipment during applications. Poison control centers can advise on acute exposures.
Limits
The surveillance depends on providers reporting cases, and exposures that caused no symptoms or no medical visit were missed. It covers only acute effects, not possible long-term effects of lower exposures, and it covers only Michigan, though bystander exposures have been described in 10 other states.
Sources
- TenHarmsel H, Harduar Morano L, Rosenman KD. Solar Panel Installation Workers Exposed to Pesticides During Two Agricultural Applications — Michigan, August 2023 and May 2024. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 74(28). https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7428a2.htm
- EPA, restricted use products: https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/restricted-use-products-rup-report
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.cdc.gov
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