Introduction Endemic workers are among the categories most exposed to the effects of pesticides used in vector control. They also face unsafe working conditions with reports of bullying, inadequacy or lack of training, and almost non-existent educational processes. Previous studies have observed damage to the mental health of rural workers caused by exposure to pesticides.

Objective To analyze the relationship between mental health and the activities of workers in the fight against endemic diseases in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the current situation.

Methods To this end, an online questionnaire was applied with questions related to work, health, sleep quality, and working and health conditions in the pandemic, including the Self-Reporting Questionnaire for screening common mental disorders (CMD). We obtained 139 valid questionnaires and employed the Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test for statistical analysis.

Results The study identified the frequency of 43.2% of symptoms indicative of CMD in the studied population regarding CMD. When stratified by gender, we observed that the occurrence was almost twice more likely in males than in females (p≤0.04). Marital status and education were also associated with p≤0.01 and p≤0.05, respectively. The work associations were sprinkler pump (p≤0.02), referred intoxication symptoms (p≤0.00), and the previous diagnosis of depression (p≤0.00). Concerning cases of a previous diagnosis of depression, we identified associations with females (p≤0.03); activity involving contact, handling, or application of agrotoxic in the past (p≤0.04); referred symptoms of intoxication (p≤0.00); reported use of malathion in the last decade (p≤0.02); activities related to field agent (p≤0.05), and suicidal ideas (p≤0.00).

Conclusion The results reinforce that work conditions and processes have been a triggering factor for illness in the studied population. Changes in the work process are necessary to avoid work that is harmful to the worker’s health.