A toxic pesticide called 1,3-dichloropropene (often referred to as 1,3-D) is the most used pesticide on commercial lily bulb fields in the town of Smith River nestled up near the Oregon border. When the pesticide is applied to soil, it turns into a gas that can poison the air, pollute waters, and lead to serious health ailments — possibly even cancer.
1,3-D presents a special risk to the exposed farmworkers and the surrounding community of Smith River since it has been heavily applied to farm lands that surround peoples homes. 1,3-D also presents a risk to rare and vulnerable wildlife like endangered coho salmon, tidewater goby, eulachon, longfin smelt and other state and federally protected species that reside in the in the lower Smith River corridor, tributaries, estuarine sloughs, and estuary. These species are at risk since the applied pesticides sluff off into the nearby Smith River estuary (see image below).
Since this pesticide has been applied to the Smith River Plain, a number of health impacts have been documented through the Siskiyou Land Conservancy’s Smith River Community Health Assessment back in 2016. The health assessment revealed that exposure to lily bulb pesticides that are used in the Smith River Plain can cause eye, skin and respiratory problems, as well as cancer and heart disease.
Additionally, lily bulb farmers in the Smith River Plain are documented to use the 1,3-D pesticide at one of the highest concentrations of 1,3-D anywhere in California:
“In 2021, Easter lily farmers applied 141,601 pounds of 1,3-D on approximately 300 acres of farmland (472 pounds per acre)— one of the highest per-acre concentrations of 1,3-D anywhere in California. (Smith River lily bulb farmers cultivate approximately 1,000 acres of lily fields, rotating the crops every third year.)” - Siskiyou Land Conservancy’s Report: Forty Years of State Complicity in the Pesticide Poisoning of California’s Wildest River
Thankfully, California regulators have proposed new restrictions on this hazardous pesticide such as limiting how much is allowed in the air and establishing buffer zones that would prevent spraying within 100 feet of occupied structures. Unfortunately, these measures fall short of what's needed to protect people and our more than human relatives such as salmon and smelt in the Smith River estuary.
1,3-D is dangerous and shouldn’t be used for agriculture and allowed to leach into our water — it's time to phase it out. Submit comments telling the Department of Pesticide Regulation to crack down on 1,3-D by January 24th!
Suggested Portal comments:
SUBJECT: Stronger restrictions for 1,3-D
I urge the California Department of Pesticide Regulation to adopt stronger regulations to greatly restrict the use of the soil fumigant 1,3-dichloropropene, or 1,3-D. 1,3-D is too dangerous to be so widely used in California, and the department should institute restrictions to reduce — and ultimately phase out — its use.
1,3-D is a listed carcinogen under Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, and has been linked to significant health risks. But it's still the third most heavily used pesticide in California by volume. As a result California's farmworkers and agricultural communities suffer disproportionately from the health risks posed by this drift-prone soil fumigant.
1,3-D also poses risks to endangered species that haven’t been fully addressed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Department of Pesticide Regulation can't adequately assess this toxic chemical’s risks to the environment and public welfare without fully addressing the harm to wildlife protected under federal and state endangered species acts. Endangered coho salmon, tidewater goby, eulachon, longfin smelt and other state and federally protected species that reside in the in the lower Smith River corridor, tributaries, estuarine sloughs, and estuary all are affected by 1,3-D pesticide runoff from lily bulb fields in Smith River.
In developing regulations for 1,3-D, the department shouldn't undercount exposure of this toxic chemical. For example, it should account for exposure rates outside a standard 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. workday for occupational workers and neighboring communities. To better protect residents, children, and occupational bystanders from 1,3-D, the department should also fully address ambient exposure and adopt uniform standards that protect all individuals exposed at the same standard, regardless of whether they are exposed on the job or at home.
The proposed buffer zones for 1,3-D are inadequate. The fumigant can drift through the air for miles at harmful levels, so the setback distance should be greatly expanded to better protect surrounding agricultural communities and farmworkers from drift. Nearly the entire Smith River community is affected by the drift from pesticide fumigation, as it is a small town that is largely surrounded by lily bulb fields that are heavily fumigated. Smith River Elementary School is also within the drift zone when lily bulb fields are fumigated in Smith River. It is important to protect our children from being subject to carcinogenic pesticides.
Finally, I ask the department to advance its sustainable pest-management roadmap, which has charted a path away from highly hazardous pesticides. The proposed 1,3-D regulations do the opposite — by continuing use of a highly toxic and volatile chemical, they fail to move California's agriculture toward a more sustainable future.
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