Pesticide Use Is on Rise in State, Study Finds

By MARK ARAX

Sept. 18, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

FRESNO —

Even as California has emerged as a leading grower of organic fruits and vegetables, many farmers throughout the state are pouring an increasing amount of toxic pesticides on their fields.

A new study by a coalition of consumer and environmental groups found that from 1991 to 1995, California farmers increased their use of chemicals linked to cancer by 129%. The use of these compounds, which include the soil fumigant metam sodium and the fungicide captan, rose from 10 million pounds to 23 million pounds during the five-year period.

The study, based on statistics compiled by the state Department of Pesticide Regulation, found that strawberries were the most intensively sprayed and treated crop in California, receiving an average of about 300 pounds of pesticide per acre each year. Following close behind were dates, carrots and pears.

The report does not spell out the precise health effects of the increased chemical use, but does say that the trend has the potential to affect not only the farm workers and rural communities that come in direct contact with the pesticides, but also consumers who eat fruits and vegetables with chemical residues.

“It was dismaying to learn that California is increasingly inundated with the worst pesticides at a time when the public has expressed strong support for a healthy environment and safer food supply,” said James Liebman, a staff scientist at the Pesticide Action Network and the author of the report, which is being released today.

State regulators did not dispute the report’s general findings but said it contains a number of misleading conclusions.

They said that no state does a more rigorous job of regulating pesticides than California and that the food supply is safe.

“It’s no secret that more pesticides have been used over the past five years, but you can’t draw conclusions from increases or decreases without a detailed study of weather conditions, pest populations and the amount of farmland harvested,” said Veda Federighi, a spokeswoman for the pesticide regulation department.

“Increased spraying does not equate to increased risk if you control the exposure, and we control the exposure.”

Farming experts say one reason pesticide use is climbing in the San Joaquin Valley, the nation’s most productive farm region, is that marginal land once used to grow barley and alfalfa--crops that require little application of pesticides--is being planted with permanent crops. These permanent crops, such as almonds and grapes, receive heavier doses of chemicals.

“Pastureland and barley fields are being converted into almonds, vegetables and wine grapes, and these crops use a heck of a lot more pesticides,” said Don Villarejo of the California Institute for Rural Studies in Davis.

Environmentalists said the findings are especially troubling because pesticide use is climbing even as the San Joaquin Valley has seen 400 square miles of cropland lost to suburban sprawl over the past decade. In addition, the coalition that authored the study said, a 37% increase in overall agricultural chemical use has taken place over the past five years despite a tiny but growing organic farming movement.

This more environmentally friendly approach converts farmland sprayed with petrochemicals into crops grown with little or no use of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. Organic methods are used on about 1% of California farmland, according to the California Certified Organic Farmers.

“If the organic movement is doing so well, why are we seeing increased pesticide use? The answer is that in some locations where organic growers are strong we are seeing a drop in pesticide use, but statewide that is not happening,” Liebman said.

The report breaks down pesticide use crop by crop and pays particular attention to strawberries. They account for only 23,000 acres of California’s 8 million acres of harvested farmland, yet receive heavy and intense rates of pesticide application.

Before fall planting, strawberry farmers inject methyl bromide and chloropicrin into the ground to sterilize the soil. Methyl bromide is a nerve gas linked to numerous poisonings and damage to the ozone layer, and chloropicrin is a tear gas similar to the compound used by riot police, the report states.

Before the berries are harvested, captan and other fungicides that state and federal scientists have identified as probable carcinogens are applied to the plants. Over the past five years, the report found, use of captan on strawberries has increased nearly eightfold.

“A lot of the increased use on strawberries reflects the fact that we’re farming more acres today than we were in 1991,” said Teresa Thorne of the California Strawberry Commission. “We’re one of the few commodities that spends thousands of dollars annually to conduct random market-basket testing for pesticide residues. California strawberries are safe.”

The study was compiled by the Pesticide Action Network, an international coalition of 400 citizens groups in more than 60 countries that is opposed to the misuse of pesticides and favors sustainable agriculture.

The study criticizes state regulators for not tracking pesticide applications by toxicity and recommends that they analyze yearly applications crop by crop and county by county. In addition, the report suggests that the University of California system do more research to help farmers cut their pesticide use.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A Crop Sampler

The number of pounds of pesticide per harvested acre in California is shown for each major crop listed, rounded to the nearest pound.

THE TOP 10

CROP: LBS. PESTICIDE PER ACRE

1. Strawberries: 302

2. Dates: 140

3. Carrots: 119

4. Pears: 112

5. Cabbage: 102

6. Lemons: 93

7. Grapes: 91