Steve Tvedten of Get Set, Inc.'s email to Lyndon Hawkins of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation "Poisoning the Air: Airborne Pesticides in California" report by the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) and Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR).

Questions have been asked of the California Department of Pesticide Control since Fontana Unified School District declined to consider a pesticide free IPM program because of the Department of Agriculture's opinion about only utilizing registered pesticides to eliminate pests.  The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has remained silent and not responded to these issues:

Subject:                Is it really "illegal" in California to wash your can?
        Date:            Thu, 03 Sep 1998 17:03:37 -0400
       From:            Rosalind Tvedten <stvedten@earthlink.net>
 Organization:      Get Set Inc.
         To:             Lyndon Hawkins <hawkins@empm.cdpr.ca.gov>
         CC:
             Linda Jensen-Pascarella <lindap@idea4u.com>, "Dr. Marion Moses" <pec@pesticides.org>,
             "Doris J. Rapp, M.D." <djrapp933@pol.net>, Jay Feldman <ncamp@igc.apc.org>,
             Will Snodgrass <lookusup@bigsky.net>, Sandy Schubert <sandy@checnet.org>,
             Norma Grier <info@pesticide.org>, wilkie_larry@saturn.fontana.k12.ca.us, pirg@pirg.org,
             pests@igc.org

On August 21, 1998 PANUPS sent me the following letter:

Millions of Californians May Be Exposed to Dangerous Pesticides in Air

Nearly four million Californians live within a half mile of  areas where potentially dangerous pesticides are used, according to a new report by California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) and Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR). These 152 pesticides have been identified by state regulators as those most likely to contaminate air and threaten human health. The report,  "Poisoning the Air: Airborne Pesticides in California," found that more than 30% of those chemicals are designated by state or federal regulatory agencies as carcinogens, reproductive toxins or acute nerve poisons.

 "We're not talking about a few people living in remote areas," said Jonathan Kaplan, CALPIRG Toxics Program Director. "A large number of us may be exposed to these pesticide air pollutants. With population levels and pesticide use increasing in California, this problem is only going to get worse if action isn't taken."

Using computer mapping software to over-lay U.S. Census data and state pesticide use data, researchers at CALPIRG developed estimates of the numbers of Californians living in close proximity to heavy use of potentially dangerous airborne pesticides.  Both the scientific literature and available ambient air monitoring data done by state agencies indicate that hazardous pesticides can travel for miles and are detected in ambient air in and around California communities. Many pesticides commonly used in California have been detected miles from the site of application -- some as far  away as 50 miles. In 1995 alone, California's Pesticide Illness Surveillance Program reported 300 drift-related acute poisonings. This figure is generally accepted as a gross underestimate of actual poisonings and does not address the risk of cancer, immune system suppression, birth defects, intelligence loss, asthma and a wide array of other injuries or chronic disease that may result from long-term pesticide exposure.  The report states that people are also at risk from airborne pesticides in the urban environment. Structural fumigation, that involves covering a home or business with a plastic "tent" and filling the structure with a toxic gas, can contaminate neighboring homes, buildings and schools.  According to studies by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), airborne levels of methyl bromide (one of the two most commonly used structural fumigants) may exceed the safety levels 50 to 100 feet away and can penetrate into nearby houses even when doors and windows are closed.   "We should take a precautionary approach now and encourage farmers and urban residents to use non-toxic pest control," said Jonathan Parfrey, Executive Director of Los Angeles Physicians for Social Responsibility. "Air pollution is a serious health concern, and airborne pesticides are another burden our bodies shouldn't be forced to fend off."

 CALPIRG's research also shows that state agencies have not implemented the law designed to regulate pesticides in the air. The Toxic Air Contaminant Program requires the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to rank chemicals for their potential to contaminate the air and harm human health. The law then requires DPR to create a public, peer-reviewed health effects report for each high priority pesticide based on extensive air monitoring and literature review. Finally the agency is required to officially list and stringently regulate those pesticides found to pose significant risk.

 In the 15 years since the state legislature passed legislation creating the Program, DPR has completed the review process for just one pesticide, ethyl parathion which had already been banned for nearly all uses by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In addition, state regulators have only monitored for 26 pesticides out of 152 pesticides prioritized as potential air contaminants.

 This report is the fourth in a series released by the coalition Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR).  Contact CPR for copies of "Poisoning the Air." It is available free to California residents; all others, US$10 prepaid. The report is also available on the CPR website at www.igc.org/cpr.

Sources: CalPIRG/CPR press release, August 19, 1998.  "Poisoning the Air."

Contacts: CALPIRG Charitable Trust, 450 Geary Street,  Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102; phone (415) 292-1487; fax
(415) 292-1497; email pirg@pirg.org; www.pirg.org.

Mr. Hawkins, when more children get sick and/or die from pesticide exposure in California, and they will, some PCO may have pulled the trigger, but you will have aimed the gun.

Stephen Tvedten
 

top