The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) is hosting public hearings on draft regulation for the use of the pesticide 1,3-dichloropropene, also known as 1,3-D or “Telone.”
The pesticide’s history is enmeshed in controversy. Manufactured by Dow Chemical, it has been shown to cause tumors in rodents, is classified as a carcinogen, and is banned in 40 countries. Debate over its use has varied over the years – from being banned in California in 1990 due to concerns over extremely high levels found near a school in Merced County, to being permitted in restricted amounts four years later. For about a decade, scientists with the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) have clashed with DPR over the human health risks the fumigant poses.
“These strawberry fields are right next to schools where children are attending,” says Yanely Martinez, an organizer with Californians for Pesticide Reform. “As a Latina, that breaks my heart that nobody else is wanting to call it what it is – this is environmental racism.”…