Pesticide drift and leaching in the Central Valley of California

Pesticide drift and leaching in the Central Valley of California is a cause for concern. The Central Valley of California is an area with a large proportion of agriculture, and pesticides are used in agriculture to manage the growth of the plants.
Pesticides contain chemicals that are hazardous to human health. State and federal policies regulate the use of pesticides in order to protect humans from these dangerous chemicals, but these regulations are not strictly enforced. Residents of the Central Valley are in danger of pesticide contamination. Low-income communities and communities of color experience the highest risk of contamination. Current developments in the Trump administration promise a relaxation on all environmental regulations. Pesticide drift is a social and a technical problem, and the intersections between these social and technical dimensions explain the continuation and invisibility of pesticide drift.
Pesticide drift
Pesticide drift is the unintentional spreading of pesticides through the air; it can occur during or after pesticide application. Drift poses both environmental and human health risks.
Pesticide drift also has financial implications. Excessive pesticide use results in additional spending, other harmed crops, and human health concerns. The presence of pesticides in groundwater can often take some time to appear.
Health effects of human contact with pesticide chemicals
Human health is affected when coming in contact with pesticides through dietary intake, water, inhalation, physical interaction, and more. In an attempt to mitigate these health effects, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) performs a four-step process to evaluate the exposure risk a certain pesticide poses to human health. This process includes identifying the toxicity of the pesticide, analyzing the amount of exposure, and identifying the overall risks as a result. Additionally, children are more susceptible to negative health effects from pesticides because of their size and their continued growth.
Burden shared by marginalized communities in the Central Valley
Pesticide drift and pesticide leaching are more likely to affect low-income communities of color than they are to affect other communities in the Central Valley of California. Demographic studies show that communities surrounding farmland have a higher proportion both of low-income people and of people of color. Because these communities are closer to the location site of pesticide application, they are more vulnerable to contaminated water supply and air. As such, low-income people of color are more likely to suffer from higher rates of cancer, asthma, and contamination than middle to high income, Caucasian populations. Monterey Park Tract was first established in 1941 by a group of African Americans who had been previously living in Modesto. The Tract’s water supply came from wells that drew on groundwater. Residents’ water bills are expected to increase from $75 per month to $95 per month. DPR's strict oversight begins with pesticide product evaluation and registration and continues through statewide licensing of commercial applicators, dealers, and other pesticide professionals. The evaluation of health impacts of pesticides is conducted through illness surveillance, risk assessment, environmental monitoring of air, water and soil. Additionally, the DPR partners with county agricultural commissioners to conduct on-site field assessment, enforcing the laws regulating pesticide use. The assessment ranges from residue testing of fresh produce and encouraging development and adoption of least-toxic pest management practices through incentives and grants.
2017 Pesticide Regulation Reversal of Chlorpyrifos
In March 2017, the Trump administration rejected a proposed ban on the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos, leaving California children and communities at risk of exposure to this chemical in food, water and the air. US EPA’s chlorpyrifos evaluation in the fall of 2016 found that the pesticide is unsafe to use in any amount, because use leads to toxic residues on fruits and vegetables, drinking water contamination, and harmful drift from fields in agricultural communities. The chemical is found in numerous common fruits and vegetables at levels up to 14,000 times greater than those previously thought to be safe for children to eat.
US EPA had proposed to ban all food uses of chlorpyrifos in 2015, but the March 2017 action from Scott Pruitt’s EPA reverses this ban.
In the face of an administration that is expected to roll back regulations, downsizing the staff and reducing funding, California's DPR has the opportunity to update, then finalize, the state’s chlorpyrifos safety assessment to reflect the most current science from US EPA’s assessment on negative impacts to children’s brains. Additionally, by ending the use of chlorpyrifos, it will be one step closer to addressing the public health concerns and safety protections of potentially affected communities.
California can follow the lead of former US EPA administration in recognizing the significant science that shows any level of exposures to chlorpyrifos before birth can be linked to the following types of neuro-developmental problems:
* Delays in mental development, lower IQ and working memory deficits
* ADHD and other attention disorders that are at risk from toxic residues of chlorpyrifos on food. A million pounds of chlorpyrifos are used every year in California. Kern, Fresno, Tulare and Imperial Counties top the list of chlorpyrifos use at more than 100,000 pounds of the chemical used in each county annually. Latino schoolchildren disproportionately attend a school with chlorpyrifos used nearby, with over 300 schools and 150,000 children in harm’s way. Farmworkers, their families, and agricultural communities face the biggest risks from chlorpyrifos drifting from fields into homes and schools. According to US EPA’s analysis, pregnant women in CA communities could be putting their babies at risk just by breathing. The average levels of chlorpyrifos found in the air in the cities of Salinas, Ripon and Shafter exceed EPA’s target risk level.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu