A new report released by Californians for Pesticide Reform asserts that fumigant pesticides are an outdated, toxic technology that undermines soil health, and safe replacements are needed to grow food on the Central Coast of California. The report examines data that revealed cancer-causing chloropicrin is in the air where Monterey County children live and play, and shares monitoring results that confirm chloropicrin in the city of Watsonville’s air poses an increased cancer risk, despite state required “safer tarps” and "buffer zones".

In 2012, Monterey County was the sixth highest pesticide use county in the state, applying more than 9.2 million pounds of agricultural pesticides. Half (50%) of this use came from just five fumigants: chloropicrin, Telone, methyl bromide, metam sodium and metam potassium. That same year, Santa Cruz County applied 1.7 million pounds of agricultural pesticides, with more than 80% of this use coming from the same five fumigants. Californians for Pesticide Reform urges the California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation to immediately protect Californians by: establishing protection zones, requiring neighbor notification for all fumigants, developing stronger regulations on chloropicrin use, and committing to reduce fumigant use.

Highlighting recent race data from the Department of Public Health (DPH), Dr. Ann Lopez, Executive Director of the Center for Farmworker Families found that Latino children are the children most often in harm’s way of pesticide threats, especially in Monterey Bay region. “The DPH study last April reported that Latino children in California were 91% more likely than white children to attend schools within ¼-mile of the heaviest use of hazardous pesticides. We’ve just learned from DPH that in Monterey County, Latino schoolchildren are 320% more likely to attend schools with the highest pesticide use nearby. It’s deeply troubling; it’s environmental racism,” Dr. Lopez stated.

Read More | New Report: Cancer-causing pesticide found in the air; Chavez Day call for reform | Californians for Pesticide Reform

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