- Author: Belinda J. Messenger-Sikes
- Author: Niamh Quinn
- Posted by: Elaine Lander
In September 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 1788, which prohibits almost all uses of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) statewide. Rodenticide products containing brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum, or difethialone have been restricted materials in California since 2014. They are only available for use by licensed pest control applicators.
The new restrictions are intended to reduce potential poisoning of nontarget wildlife. According to the text of the bill, scientific research and state studies have found rodenticides in over 75 percent of animals tested. From 2014 through 2018, the Department of Fish and Wildlife found SGARs in more than 90 percent of tested mountain lions, 88 percent of tested bobcats, 85 percent of protected Pacific fishers tested, and 70 percent of northern spotted owls tested.
There are some exceptions to this law but almost all uses in and around structures have been banned. The following uses are allowable under AB 1788:
- Governmental agency employees using SGARs for protection of public health or protection of water supply infrastructure and facilities.
- Mosquito or vector control district using SGARs for public health.
- Eradication of nonnative invasive species inhabiting or found to be present on offshore islands.
- Control of an actual or potential rodent infestation associated with a public health need, as determined by a supporting declaration from the State Public Health Officer or a local public health officer.
- Research purposes, with written permission from DPR's director.
- Agricultural activities, including use in
- warehouses used to store foods for human or animal consumption.
- agricultural food production sites, including, but not limited to, a slaughterhouse or cannery.
- factories, breweries, and wineries.
- agricultural production sites housing water storage and conveyance facilities.
- agricultural production sites housing rights-of-way and other transportation infrastructure.
What are other options for rodent control in urban settings?
A successful rodent control strategy includes prevention through sanitation measures, physical exclusion methods, and a combination of effective population control methods. Traps may be useful alternatives in some cases around homes, garages, and other structures. For instance, small populations of house mice can be effectively managed with traps. It is important to always be mindful of nontarget wildlife when conducting a trapping program. Rodenticides that are still available in California for licensed pesticide applicators include the first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (warfarin, chlorophacinone, and diphacinone) and the non-anticoagulant rodenticides (bromethalin, cholecalciferol, and zinc phosphide).
For more information about rodent management, see Pest Notes: Rats and Pest Notes: House Mouse.
This new prohibition will be in effect until the California Department of Pesticide Regulation's Director certifies that specified measures have been taken to evaluate, restrict, and only use SGARs when necessary.
[Article originally published in the Fall 2020 issue of the Green Bulletin.]
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- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
- Author: Belinda J. Messenger-Sikes
Starting August 1, 2020, all pesticides containing the active ingredient carbaryl will be designated as restricted materials in California, except for baits labeled only for agricultural use.
After August 1, 2020 it will be unlawful to possess or use carbaryl products without an appropriate pesticide applicator license and permit. This includes home gardeners and maintenance gardeners (if they are not licensed to apply pesticides). There will not be a sell-through period for existing products on retail shelves following the effective date.
Consumers should contact their state or local hazardous waste disposal program or local solid waste collection service for proper disposal of unused products and containers. It is illegal to dispose of carbaryl products in sinks, toilets, storm drains or any body of water.
For more information, see the California Department of Pesticide Regulation pages at https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pressrls/2020/072720.htm.
Please share this information with others in your network.
- Author: Lisa Estridge
- Posted by: Elaine Lander
Do you work at or service a school or multiple schools? If so, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) is seeking your input about the Healthy Schools Act. Feedback from stakeholders—school district staff, child care providers, parents, teachers, and pest management professionals—is being collected throughout 2019 by DPR.
What is the Healthy Schools Act?
When pesticides are used at schools and child care centers in California, the Healthy Schools Act defines requirements for school and child care center staff, pest management professionals, and DPR. The law was originally passed by the California Legislature in 2000. In the almost 20 years since then, the law has been amended multiple times to expand the requirements. The requirements for school and child care center staff and pest management professionals include providing notification, submitting pesticide use reports, and completing training. DPR is required to facilitate the adoption of IPM practices and provide Healthy Schools Act compliance assistance throughout California.
Why is DPR asking for input?
Assembly Bill 2816 (passed in 2018) directs DPR to write a report that evaluates and provides recommendations for the Healthy Schools Act. The report will focus on implementation and compliance of each of the Healthy Schools Act requirements. DPR's School and Child Care IPM Team would like to learn directly from stakeholders about how they have implemented the law, what changes they have made to their pest management practices, and what recommendations they have for improving the law. Real-world experiences from stakeholders will help the Department to write a better report and give practical recommendations.
Stakeholders from throughout the state are encouraged to provide input by emailing DPR at HSAinput@cdpr.ca.gov. The Department's Healthy Schools Act Legislative Report webpage has additional information about the report and stakeholder involvement.
The report is due to the Legislature by January 1, 2021, and DPR needs input from you by December 31, 2019.
The Department of Pesticide Regulation's School and Child Care IPM Team would like to thank you in advance for contributing to this effort. Please direct any questions and feedback about the Healthy Schools Act Legislative Report to DPR at HSAinput@cdpr.ca.gov
- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
Spring is in full swing and summer is right around the corner. If you work in agricultural, turf, landscape, or structural settings, you are probably at your busiest. If you handle pesticides as part of your work, you most likely wear some sort of personal protective equipment (PPE). However, do you know if you are wearing the right type for the job that you do? Wearing the appropriate PPE, taking it off the right way, and correctly cleaning it prevents unnecessary pesticide exposure to yourself and others.
Learn the steps so you don't expose your family members or those around you to pesticide residues by viewing a brand new online course on Proper Selection, Use, and Removal of Personal Protective Equipment from the UC Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM).
The course is approved by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) for 1.5 hours in the Laws and Regulations category. This course is designed for all pesticide handlers with the goal to provide them with information on pesticide labels and the California Code of Regulations (CCR) to help them select, wear, remove, and dispose of or store PPE.
In California, all pesticide handlers (applicators, mixers, loaders, those who transport pesticides, or those who fix application equipment) are legally required to wear PPE. However, in order to get the most protection from PPE, it must be used correctly. Violations involving the incorrect use of PPE were the second most commonly reported type of agricultural-use violation in 2017 as reported by DPR (PDF).
The new PPE online course opens with a scenario describing a real example of an accident reported to DPR that led to an incident of pesticide exposure because the correct eye protection was not worn. The content that follows is divided into six instructional modules, highlighting types of PPE, how to select it, and when certain items should be worn. Answer short questions about the different types of PPE. Open pesticide labels to learn how to select the right PPE and learn when certain items should be worn. Short how-to videos and animated sequences demonstrate the proper way to put on or remove items such as gloves, coveralls, respirators, and eyewear. You must pass a final test with 70% or higher to receive your certificate of completion and continuing education hours.
If this is the year to renew your license with DPR, get a jumpstart on it. Take this new course and all the other UC IPM online courses to refresh your knowledge and get the CEUs you need. There is a $30 fee for taking Proper Selection, Use, and Removal of Personal Protective Equipment. You are welcome to view the content for free on YouTube, but without the activities, final exam, and continuing education credit. For more information about license renewal, visit DPR.
With Halloween again upon us, what better time to unearth a few true horror stories of reported pesticide accidents from DPR and county agricultural commissioners' records?
These recent tales illustrate the perils of misusing or carelessly handling pesticides. Sadly, they were all avoidable.
The point of sharing them is not to embarrass anyone, but, rather, to educate people. As such, DPR is withholding names and some other details that could identify the people involved.
Hopefully, sharing these true horror stories can prevent future injuries or even deaths.
DON'T STORE PESTICIDES NEAR KIDS!
Every year, county agricultural commissioners, who handle enforcement of state pesticide laws in the field, receive several reports of injuries resulting from improper pesticide storage. Commonly, such accidents involve pesticides placed in food or beverage containers.
One such incident in April involved a toddler in Los Angeles. The girl, just 21 months old, was in her family's backyard when she accidentally drank pesticide from a small cup she found.
Investigators from the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner's Office determined the cup contained a pesticide, from Mexico, that is illegal to use in California. The active ingredient was dichlorvos which can affect the nervous system.
It was left in the yard by the girl's father. He told investigators he put it there to kill spiders.
The girl began suffering symptoms including runny nose, watery eyes, and redness of the skin. Her mom took her to USC Medical Center for treatment. Thankfully, she was able to be released the following day.
At least two morals that can be drawn from this chilling tale. …
“LA CAC staff advised the child's father to keep pesticides in their original containers and not to place or keep any pesticide product in any container of a type commonly used for food, drink or household products,” reads part of the report, submitted to DPR. It notes that improper storage is illegal.
“Also, the county staff informed the family that only products registered with DPR should be used. Considering the circumstance, the LA CAC's office did not take an enforcement action and the investigation is now closed.”
DANGEROUS DRINK
According to the Orange County Agricultural Commissioner's Office, the woman saw a juice bottle in her husband's work truck and brought it into the house.
She poured the contents over ice and drank it. But instead of it being a cool refreshing drink it was a dangerous one. And it tasted awful. Sensing something amiss, she asked her husband – a gardener – what was inside? It was glyphosate – a common herbicide.
They went to the local hospital where the woman experienced diarrhea and was kept overnight. The family was contacted by an ag commissioner's office investigator who explained the importance of not storing pesticides in food containers.
“The family now knows not to store pesticides in food containers,” the ag commissioner's office says.
The gardener would surely have known not to store pesticides in food containers had he been licensed by DPR, which is a requirement to legally apply pesticides as part of his job.
HORROR ON THE BLEACH!
Many people don't know, or forget, that bleach can be a pesticide. It's used in a number of products to kill bacteria and other organisms. As such, bleach cleaners should be handled with care, which includes following instructions on the bottle. The labels will tell you, for instance, not to mix with other chemicals.
This was a mistake made by a Cathedral City woman in April.
She'd heard from a friend that a solution of bleach and vinegar is good for controlling flies. In fact, unbeknownst to the woman, mixing bleach with acids, like vinegar, can produce dangerous chlorine gas that is harmful to humans – not just tiny flies! (Note: Chlorine gas was used as a chemical weapon in WWI.).
After mixing these chemicals at her home, the woman began to have breathing difficulties.
She went to Borrego Health/Centro Medico in Cathedral City where she was treated with oxygen for breathing difficulties. Luckily, she was sent home the following day.
The Riverside County Agricultural Commissioner's Office provided her with education and outreach materials. No fines were levied, which is standard protocol for the office in cases where residents experience such accidental pesticide exposures.
A ROYALLY DANGEROUS FLUSH
Another scary reminder about not mixing bleach with other cleaners was reported in September 2016.
According to a report from the Merced County Agricultural Commissioner's Office, a woman had cleaned a toilet in her house with a mixture of ammonia and bleach. She put the toilet lid down and left for the day.
Unaware of the toxic brew left in the bowl, her husband used the toilet. Upon flushing, he got a “massive whiff” of toxic chloramine gas – the result of mixing chlorine with ammonia. He began coughing, and felt substantial chest tightening and throat irritation. His father took him to Los Banos Memorial Hospital where he was given breathing treatment.
Thankfully, he was discharged a few hours later -- improved and wiser. Merced Ag Commissioner's investigators advised his family that when cleaning the toilet in the future, it is best not to mix or combine products, and to read the product labels thoroughly before use.
BEWARE OF THE FOG
So readily available and common, it seems people sometimes forget that foggers (or “flea bombs”) need to be handled with great care.
As with any pesticide, always follow the use instructions on the containers, including guidelines for placement, and exiting immediately and waiting time before reentering the areas being treated.
Case in point: In April, a 54-year-old Murrieta man set off two foggers in his home – one in a closet and another in his bedroom.
According to a report from the Riverside County Ag Commissioner's Office, he didn't leave the room immediately and, he later reported, began feeling dizzy, had difficulty breathing and began coughing. He took a shower hoping it would help alleviate his symptoms but, when this failed to help, he went to the hospital.
In the emergency room at Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta, he was given oxygen and bronchodilators for his breathing difficulties. He was released the same day.
A similar case, in June, involved an 84-year-old Riverside man. He told an investigator he'd set off a fogger in his house to control lice. Shortly after the treatment began, he entered the house to retrieve medication for COPD that he'd left indoors. He inhaled some of the fogger chemical and began coughing, and felt dizzy and nauseous.
He went to the emergency room at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside where he was given oxygen for his breathing difficulties, and was released the same day.
The ag commissioner's office provided him with education and outreach materials. No fines were levied, which is standard protocol for the office in cases where residents experience such accidental pesticide exposures.
A “WHICH IS” TALE
One of two final stories to end this dispatch illustrates the importance of care in handling pesticides. In March, an Irvine man was hospitalized after accidentally ingesting an insecticide for fleas.
According to Orange County Agricultural Commissioner's investigators, the man had asked his mother-in-law to send him a cough medicine available in Mexico, called Benzonatato.She went to a pharmacy in Tijuana, bought what she thought was the right product, and shipped it to him.
“He took the two teaspoons, which was his normal dosage, but this time it tasted different. He took a look at the bottle and almost everything looked the same. The same sized bottle, the same color and almost the same name,” according to the ag commissioner's office.
However, instead of Benzonatato, the package contained a bottle of Benzoato de Bencino, which comes in a similar looking bottle, according to investigators.
The man – vomiting – called Poison Control and was directed to the emergency room at Hoag Hospital.
Luckily, after four hours under observation, he was released and had reportedly recovered the next day.
“(The man) and his mother-in-law now know to look carefully at wording on the bottle before purchasing or ingesting,” says an ag commissioner's description of the incident.
THE BREAD ZONE (WHERE NOT TO USE OR STORE PESTICIDES)
A second incident, reported in May, involved a Cathedral City woman who accidentally ingested ant and roach killer. According to the Riverside Ag Commissioner, the woman was making a sandwich with bread that, unbeknownst to her, had been stored in a cabinet treated with an ant-and-roach killer, applied by the woman's boyfriend.
She developed stomach pain, nausea, and vomiting.
She went to the emergency room at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs where she was given pain medication and anti-nausea medicine. She was released the same day.
The ag commissioner's office provided her with education and outreach materials, along with a reminder to always heed warnings on the label to avoid harmful accidental contamination. No fines were levied.