On January 14, California's Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announced new “recommended restrictions” on the use of chloropicrin, a cancer-causing pesticide used widely on California strawberries. Health, environmental and rural advocates say that DPR ignored its own scientists in developing the proposal, and that the recommended restrictions fall far short of protecting schoolchildren and rural residents from harmful exposures to the toxic pesticide.

Since 1999, more than 1,400 people — including farmworkers and other rural residents — have reported symptoms from chloropicrin exposure as it drifts from neighboring fields, sometimes several days after an application. Exposure can lead to eye irritation and severe respiratory damage, in addition to an increased risk of cancer. Chloropicrin, an agricultural pesticide of public health concern to communities across the state, is heavily used in close proximity to schools.

“More pounds of chloropicrin are applied near Pajaro Valley schools than any other highly hazardous pesticide. The effects of chloropicrin on children’s health is a top concern of parents and teachers in the Monterey Bay area,” said Francisco Rodriguez, Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers President and special education teacher.

Read More | Californians for Pesticide Reform | Dark Side of the Strawberry

See Also: Chloropicrin Sickens Residents of Lamont, California (Oct. 3 and 4, 2003) | Groundbreaking Report Finds High Rates of Pesticide Use Near Monterey County Schools (April 2014)