State aims to restrict pesticide use near schools

Jimenez Elementary School sits nestled among acres of farmland in Santa Maria, separated from neighboring fields by only a stretch of road. For the hundreds of school children in attendance there, not much stands between them and potentially harmful pesticides, drifting from nearby crops.

click to enlarge State aims to restrict pesticide use near schools
FILE PHOTO BY DYLAN HONEA-BAUMANN
NEW RULES: Under the state’s proposed regulations, growers wouldn’t be able to apply drift-prone pesticides within a quarter-mile of schools and daycare centers during the daytime on weekdays.

But come September 2017, that might change. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) has proposed regulations that would restrict the application of agricultural pesticides near schools and child day care centers. The new rules would prohibit the application of pesticides within a quarter mile of those facilities between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays, and would affect about 3,500 schools and day care centers statewide.

Data released in 2014 by the California Environmental Health Tracking Program showed that as of 2010, Santa Barbara County was among the top 15 pesticide-heavy counties in California. Of Santa Barbara County’s 119 schools, 14 of them fell within the top quartile by pounds of pesticides applied within a quarter mile—meaning 11.8 percent of local schools were hit by between 319 and 28,979 pounds of pesticides within a quarter-mile radius.

That’s bad news for kids’ health, according to Paul Towers, organizing director of the Pesticide Action Network of North America (PANNA). He told the Sun that Telone, a known cancer-causing fumigant, is the second most-used pesticide near schools.

Even though large, one-time pesticide exposures don’t happen often on school campuses, he added, small, repeated exposures are common and impactful.

“The body of research increasingly shows that even in very small amounts, exposure to pesticides can be linked to lifelong damage for children, both to their health as well as to their learning abilities,” Towers told the Sun. “Even in small amounts, it has a profound effect on kids. Very small amounts in kids is different from very small amounts in adults. Children are particularly susceptible.”

Towers said this has to do with critical windows in child development, in which “a chemical can have a much more pronounced effect on the body.”

The DPR’s proposed regulations would be the first statewide rules restricting pesticide use near schools. Usually, these regulations are applied county by county, or pesticide by pesticide. Towers said it’s about time the DPR starts regulating pesticides based on application methods rather than specific types of chemicals.

“Pesticides are brought to the market regularly, so a regulation that’s built around a method of application is more likely to capture new pesticides as they come to market down the road,” Towers said. “The adaptability of rules like these acknowledges that it’s more important to deal with those likely to drift near our schools.”

Application methods named in the DPR’s restrictions include aircraft, sprinklers, air-blast, and fumigant applications, as well as most dust and powder applications.

“But if you spray Roundup to kill a weed near a school, that’s not going to be restricted under these rules,” Towers said. “We’re talking about the heavier, more drift-prone agricultural pesticides.”

He added that the proposed rules aren’t perfect—he would suggest a 24-hour protection over a larger area around schools, coupled with increased financial incentives and other support for the nearly 2,500 growers in California who would be affected by the regulations.

The DPR is accepting public comment on the proposed restrictions until Dec. 9, and according to a news release, the agency expects to enact the regulations by September 2017—in time for the next school year. Hearings on the proposed regulations will take place on Nov. 15 at 6p.m. in the Oxnard Performing Arts and Convention Center, Nov. 16 at 6p.m. in the Tulare Veterans Memorial Building, and Dec. 1 at 6p.m. at the Salinas Sports Complex.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the California Environmental Health Tracking Program data was released by the DPR.
Oct. 27, 2016

 

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