Assembly Bill 1603 would require pesticide products to disclose whether they contain PFAS, bar new approvals of PFAS pesticides and phase out existing uses over 10 years. The measure faces a deadline vote in the full Assembly by May 29.

PFAS, short for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are synthetic chemicals that have been used since the 1950s to make products resistant to water, grease and heat. Studies have linked some PFAS exposure to cancer, reproductive harm, hormone disruption and other health risks. The chemicals are known for their persistence in the environment, where they can remain for decades or longer.

The debate has particular importance in California, where agriculture supplies much of the nation’s produce, including more than three-quarters of fruits and nuts consumed in the United States and nearly half of its vegetables. Produce grown in the Central Valley is distributed widely across Southern California and the Inland Empire, making the issue relevant to local shoppers as well as farm communities.

Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, argues that regulators have moved too slowly to address PFAS in pesticides even as they have taken steps to limit some PFAS in drinking water. Donley co-authored a peer-reviewed study with scientists from the Environmental Working Group and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility that found 14% of conventional pesticide active ingredients are PFAS. Among pesticide active ingredients approved in the past decade, the study found the share rises to 30%.

Recent findings have heightened concerns among environmental groups. In March, the U.S. Geological Survey reported widespread water contamination involving PFAS pesticides in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, major growing regions for California fruits and vegetables.

A separate analysis by the Environmental Working Group, based on state testing of nonorganic produce in 2023, found PFAS chemicals in nearly 40% of samples. The group reported finding 17 different PFAS pesticides on more than half of 78 types of nonorganic fruits and vegetables tested, including nectarines, peaches, plums, strawberries, blueberries, celery and green beans.

Supporters of AB 1603 say those findings show the need for California to move beyond disclosure and begin phasing out agricultural uses of PFAS pesticides. They also point to the amount of PFAS pesticide use in the state. According to figures cited by advocates, 23 million to 35 million pounds of pesticide ingredients used each year in the United States are PFAS. California has registered 53 PFAS pesticides, and roughly 2.5 million pounds are applied annually to cropland in the state.

The issue has also become part of a larger dispute over how PFAS should be defined. The pesticide industry has argued that some newer pesticides should not be classified as PFAS because they contain one fully fluorinated carbon rather than two. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has accepted that approach in some cases. Environmental scientists and advocates counter that the widely used scientific definition includes chemicals with a single fully fluorinated carbon.

Critics of current regulatory policy also point to recent pesticide approvals. Since President Donald Trump took office, the EPA has approved two PFAS pesticides and proposed approving three more, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. In California, the Department of Pesticide Regulation recently approved the PFAS insecticide sulfoxaflor, despite previous court rulings at the state and federal levels involving concerns about risks to pollinators, including honeybees.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation oversees pesticide registration and use in the state, including safety reviews and restrictions. Environmental groups say the agency’s continued approval of PFAS-containing products shows that legislative action is needed.

AB 1603 would create a statewide framework intended to prevent additional PFAS pesticide products from entering the market while giving agriculture a decade to transition away from existing products. If approved by the Assembly, the bill would still need to move through the Senate and be signed by the governor before becoming law.

For consumers, the debate comes as PFAS contamination has drawn increasing attention in drinking water, consumer goods and food packaging. In California, where residents rely on produce grown throughout the state and where farming remains a major economic engine, the question before lawmakers is whether pesticide use should become the next major front in efforts to reduce exposure to forever chemicals.

Original source: CalMatters

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The effort includes releasing tens of thousands of sterilized male mosquitoes into the wild to mate with female mosquitoes, according to an April release from the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District. The process is called the Sterile Insect Technique, or SIT, and was used by the California Department of Food and Agriculture to control the population of Mediterranean fruit flies in the state. The Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District is also partnering on the move.

“SIT offers a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution to reduce mosquito populations and ultimately minimize the transmission of diseases,” Steven Vetrone, Vector Control District director of scientific-technical services, said in the release.

The male mosquitoes have been sterilized using X-ray technology, officials said, and the eggs laid by female mosquitoes who mate with the released insects will not hatch, “decreasing the overall mosquito population over time.”

Vetrone told Newsweek over email on Friday that the first batch of sterilized male mosquitoes was released Thursday. The mosquitoes will be released “at a ratio between 7:1 and 10:1 sterile to wild males,” Vertrone added, and the releases will continue weekly until the end of October.

“At the height of the mosquito season, as many as 60,000 males a week might be released depending on wild population estimates in surveillance traps in the pilot area,” Vetrone said.

The mosquito species that scientists are hoping to curb is the invasive Aedes, which is able to transmit diseases including dengue, chikungunya and Zika. Over two dozen counties in California reported the presence of Aedes aegypti, also known as the yellow fever mosquito, as of May 3, according to the state Department of Public Health. Los Angeles and Orange counties also contend with the Aedes albopictus, or the Asian tiger mosquito.

According to officials, cited by KCAL, the Aedes mosquitoes are resistant to common pesticides and often lay their eggs in small hidden water sources in residential yards and patio areas, which are hard to reach by control agencies.

The sterilized mosquitoes are being released into two Sunland-Tujunga neighborhoods under the SIT program. Vetrone said in the April release: “While the introduction of male mosquitoes may lead to an increase in noticeable overall insect presence, residents should be able to notice a reduction in biting activity,” as male mosquitoes do not bite.

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Is There A Safer Option?

Often times, when you drive by one of the local schools, you will see some of the greenest and neatest fields around. Despite all of the kids that run and play on the grass every day, it raises a question on what is being used to keep these fields so clean. Certainly, there is some sort of maintenance/lawn care program the district has put together for the schools to follow, but what does that intel exactly?

You have to wonder what kinds of pesticides are being used in the fields that our children are playing on every day. The school has to be spraying for weeds, rodents, and insects consistently to make sure that there are no crazy outbreaks on campus. Are these chemicals safe for our children to be playing around? How often do they take the initiative to clean these fields with such chemicals? Are they willing to tell parents exactly what chemicals they are using on the fields?

This brings up another question. What is being done to protect the playground equipment while the fields are being sprayed? If there is a breeze, what is stopping the chemicals from getting all over the playground equipment? Does the staff pressure wash and clean jungle gyms regularly and if they do what chemicals are they using on the jungle gyms?

Not all of these questions were answers on 09/03/19 when a group of parents went to the Hemet Unified Board Meeting and voiced their concerns. Their opinions were heard even though not all their questions were answered. The main concern for HUSD was the use of “RoundUp” and if it should be used on campuses around the valley. Some argue that there is no actual scientific proof that RoundUp causes cancer, but if you look online, there have already been tons of lawsuits to the company and thousands of dollars paid out in settlements. If there is an idea that this chemical could potentially cause cancer and it’s being used at the school where our kids play, isn’t it better to be safe instead of sorry?

Maybe switching to an environmentally friendly method or handling weeds instead of spraying RoundUp all over the fields that hundreds of kids play on every day is a better solution. It may take some time to get to the bottom of this situation, and no answers have immediately come out yet, but if you are a parent of a kid at a Hemet Unified School and would like your opinion to be heard, show up to the next Hemet Unified Board Meeting (date available on their website) and let them know how you feel about the toxic chemicals being used at your child’s school.

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