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. 2013 Aug;103(8):e24-6.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.301135. Epub 2013 Jun 13.

Heat index in migrant farmworker housing: implications for rest and recovery from work-related heat stress

Sara A Quandt  1 , Melinda F Wiggins, Haiying Chen, Werner E Bischoff, Thomas A Arcury
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Heat index in migrant farmworker housing: implications for rest and recovery from work-related heat stress

Sara A Quandt et al. Am J Public Health. 2013 Aug.

Abstract

Although the health risk to farmworkers of working in hot conditions is recognized, potential for excessive heat exposure in housing affecting rest and recovery has been ignored. We assessed heat index in common and sleeping rooms in 170 North Carolina farmworker camps across a summer and examined associations with time of summer and air conditioning use. We recorded dangerous heat indexes in most rooms, regardless of time or air conditioning. Policies to reduce heat indexes in farmworker housing should be developed.

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Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
Heat index across early, middle, and late summer, by the presence and absence of air conditioning in (a) common rooms and (b) sleeping rooms: North Carolina farmworker camps, 2010. Note. AC = air conditioning. The sample sizes were n = 168 common rooms and n = 308 sleeping rooms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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