Immigrant Workers

New England Journal of Higher Education, The, Summer 2006

Immigrants have accounted for nearly all the growth in the Massachusetts labor force since the mid-1980s. Many work as house cleaners, floor refinishers and painters or in small businesses such as beauty salons and auto body shops where they are exposed to environmental toxins.

Recently, Tufts University's School of Engineering was awarded a fouryear, $899,644 grant by the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health to study occupational health risks among immigrant workers in Somerville, Mass., the city on Tufts' doorstep that is home to 23,000 Brazilians, Haitians, Salvadorans and other foreign-born immigrants.

Tufts experts and local organizations will use public health surveillance data and detailed interviews to assess immigrants' exposure to work-related environmental toxins such as solvents and cleaning agents. And they will train bilingual young people to teach immigrant workers in their families and communities about occupational hazards and safe practices.

Tufts and partners will also launch a "nonprofit green cleaning cooperative" where immigrant workers can join together to learn about safe work practices and the benefits of using environmentally friendly cleaning products.

The idea is that Tufts expertise will empower Somerville's immigrants to solve problems within the community. As Tufts assistant professor Raymond R. Hyatt Jr., puts it: "We are making a genuine transfer of critical expertise to our community partners."