Wildfire smoke, forecast to return to parts of northern Michigan next week, has become a reality for the state, and the workers most often exposed to it often have less protection, one expert says.
An occupational health and exposure scientist says that, without clear regulations or access to clean air, outdoor workers – landscapers, farmers, construction crews, and delivery workers – face compounding risks, from respiratory illness to heat stress.
Rick Neitzel is a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and an exposure scientist. His current research is focused on occupational justice, a framework that recognizes how certain workers, often those in lower-wage, insecure jobs, bear a disproportionate share of environmental hazards.
“There are workers out there who have jobs that are just unimaginably bad,” Neitzel says, “and, unfortunately, those also happen to be workers who get some of the lowest pay and have some of the least job security.”
Read the article: Wildfire smoke, expected to return, packs double whammy for outdoor workers
Exposure Research Lab 