While a recently released report from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) shows that most of the state has pesticide levels well below those that indicate a health concern, one spot in the Santa Maria Valley gave the agency pause.
“The major takeaway of this report is that even though growers in communities like Santa Maria use pesticides to grow food for the nation, the 2014 data shows that there is no significant health risk from pesticides in the air to local communities,” said Charlotte Fadipe, a spokeswoman for the DPR.
In Santa Maria, an air-monitoring station picked up levels of chloropicrin high enough to trigger a closer look during a four-week period in 2014. The screening level set by the DPR does not indicate a “significant increased health risk” but does indicate that a more detailed evaluation is needed.
Chloropicrin, discovered by a Scottish chemist in the mid-19th century, was manufactured as a poison gas during World War I. Since 1975, it’s been used in the United States as an antimicrobial, fungicide, herbicide, insecticide, and nematicide. The pesticide’s usually injected into the soil under plastic tarps to protect specialty crops such as strawberries from pests. The DPR reports it was used on about 67,000 acres of farmland in California in 2012.
“Exceeding the screening level in Santa Maria doesn’t mean there is a health threat, but we are taking a closer look at when these pesticide applications occurred and what weather conditions were like,” Fadipe said.
In 2003, 163 people in Kern County were poisoned by chloropicrin drift from a nearby farm. Nearly everyone exposed complained of eye pain and burning. About half reported respiratory problems, and about half experienced diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. The Centers for Disease Control reported that “follow-up medical care was limited because most of the affected persons lacked health insurance.”
California and the federal Environmental Protection Agency both regulate chloropicrin. In January 2015, the DPR announced more stringent state regulations. The rules call for larger buffer zones. The acres per day that can be treated with chloropicrin decreased from 160 acres to 40. Neighbors now need to be notified in English and in Spanish.
The DPR, which monitors 32 pesticides in six agricultural cities, found few pesticides in the air overall; 14 of those chemicals weren’t detected at all, and 12 were only detected in trace amounts.
“People should feel reassured that California has the strongest pesticide protections in the country,” Fadipe said. “We have more protections than the federal government requires and more protections than other states and even other countries. In fact, other states sometimes look to California for guidance and input. So Santa Maria residents can be proud of this record.”
This article appears in Jun 4-11, 2015.