FILE — In this June 21, 2019 file photo, the sun peaks past almonds growing on the branches of an almond tree in Modesto, Calif. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is changing how it handles pesticide spray drift, which can affect farmworkers and nearby communities.
Rich Pedroncelli / AP
In a push to better protect farmworkers and communities, federal officials will now more closely weigh in on how pesticides that drift away from farm fields harm people. Environmental justice groups say the change is significant, but argue the federal government should’ve acted earlier.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday that it will analyze the potential for people to be exposed to a pesticide due to spray drift earlier in the agency’s review process. The EPA already considers spray drift during routine reviews, but historically those reviews have happened 15 years after a pesticide was approved by the agency.
Now, federal officials will evaluate human health risks of pesticide spray drift during the initial registration or review process when a manufacturer identifies new crops or other uses of a pesticide. The goal is to minimize the potential for harm when a pesticide is first approved, rather than delaying it for 15 years.
“Our new policy will ensure that vital public health protections are in place when a pesticide is initially approved – so people don’t have to wait years for the protections they deserve and need,” said Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for EPA’s office of chemical safety and pollution prevention, in a statement.
Spray drift can happen during or after a pesticide is sprayed on a field of crops or on timber. Weather conditions, like strong winds, can carry the chemicals to unintended areas where people can get it on their skin or eyes, causing different symptoms depending on the pesticide.
In Oregon, some pesticides meant to kill weeds or insects are known to drift and cause serious health problems. In 2013, residents in a rural community in Curry County blamed aerial pesticide spray for making them sick. There have also been recorded cases of the now-banned pesticide chlorpyrifos drifting away from Christmas tree farms into people’s houses, making farmworkers sick and poisoning aquatic life in nearby creeks.
Environmental justice groups say, however, the vast majority of pesticide drift incidents go unreported, or people might not even know where to report or submit a complaint.
“It’s really a sad situation that so many people have been harmed by pesticide drift and have had a great amount of difficulty having their harm acknowledged by the regulatory agency,” said Lisa Arkin, executive director of Oregon nonprofit Beyond Toxics.
While the change announced this week might not directly lead to fewer spray drift incidents like the one in Curry County, Arkin said she expects to see the EPA requiring manufacturers to update instruction labels if the agency finds a pesticide has the potential to drift and harm people.
That could mean specifying buffer zones, such as how close a pesticide may be sprayed to nearby communities, or how high off the ground a crop duster or drone can apply a pesticide. An EPA spokesperson said that’s consistent with the agency’s commitment to address environmental justice issues from pesticide use in and around farm communities.
“We are seeing our regulatory agency admit that drift happens, it happens a lot and it happens in many scenarios,” Arkin said. “And of course, the people who are most impacted are those who work in agriculture and timber production and those people who live nearby.”