Pesticide Poses a Risk to Students, Report Says

Students at hundreds of California schools could be at risk of exposure to dangerous levels of the pesticide methyl bromide, according to a report released Wednesday by an environmental watchdog group. Pupils in farm areas of Monterey, Ventura and Santa Cruz counties are most at risk from poisonous vapors, the report contended.

In its fourth study of the highly toxic cropland fumigant, the Environmental Working Group chastised state regulators for allowing California farmers to apply millions of pounds of methyl bromide near classrooms and schoolyards--and called for a wide buffer zone around educational facilities and residential neighborhoods.

“Tens of thousands of California children are at risk from exposure to methyl bromide while attending school, playing on school grounds, or simply living in their neighborhoods near these schools,” said Bill Walker, spokesman for the Washington D.C.-based think tank, which focuses primarily on pesticide issues. “And in many cases, these schools are directly abutting treated fields.”

In response, state officials said Wednesday that the potent fumigant poses no health hazard when used properly, as is nearly always the case. Existing buffer zones and other precautions protect the public, they said.

It is impossible to say how much of a health threat the fumigant poses because state and county officials rarely monitor school campuses for pesticide vapors, Walker said.

But during the past three years, teachers and parents in Watsonville and Castroville in the Salinas Valley have complained of flu-like symptoms after the pesticide was used on nearby fields.

And in Ventura--after operators of a child-care center complained in 1996 of headaches, stomachaches and dizziness--tests found drifting methyl bromide in levels that averaged 294 parts per billion over a 12-hour period, compared to the state safety standard of 210 parts per billion over 24 hours.

The environmental group backs legislation by Assemblywoman Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont) that would prohibit the use of methyl bromide within 1,000 feet of schools and homes and require warnings to neighbors before applications. Now, the fumigant can be used no closer than 100 feet of buildings, with no notice to neighbors.

The bill is set for a hearing before the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee on Tuesday.

“This state has completely failed in its responsibility to protect children and families from the harmful effects of methyl bromide,” said Figueroa, whose East Bay district includes flower farms that use methyl bromide. “This is a toxic gas that causes nerve damage and reproductive problems in women, and in my district we’ve even had schools evacuated because of the misuse of methyl bromide.”

State pesticide regulators discounted the significance of the new study and said no new guidelines are needed.

“We certainly hold up our science against their science, and our buffer zones are based on extensive testing,” said Veda Federighi, spokeswoman for the state Department of Pesticide Regulation. “We would never allow people to be exposed to unsafe levels of methyl bromide.”

The statewide minimum buffer between fields treated with methyl bromide and schools and homes was expanded last year from 30 feet to 100 feet, not because the 30-foot buffer was unsafe, but out of an abundance of caution, Federighi said.

The proposed 1,000-foot buffer is unnecessary and not based on science, she said.

“Our buffer is based on the typical kind of exposures that you would find with use of methyl bromide,” she said. “We find an acceptable safety level, then lower it a hundredfold to ensure an adequate margin of safety.”

In one 1997 case, where state monitors ringed a Watsonville school because of parental concerns, levels of methyl bromide on the campus were all within safety guidelines, she said.

“Our buffer zones were more than adequate,” she said.

Methyl bromide is a highly volatile soil fumigant farmers consider invaluable. It is most commonly used in strawberry fields, but also on almonds, vegetables, grapes, tomatoes, lettuce, in plant nurseries and to fumigate crops for export.

In strawberry fields, it is injected about 18 inches into the soil, which is then covered with a plastic tarp for at least five days to contain the chemical’s toxic fumes.

The chemical will be banned nationwide in 2001 because it depletes the Earth’s ozone layer. A California ban because of safety concerns was sidestepped in 1996 after Gov. Pete Wilson, citing job and economic losses, asked the Legislature to extend the chemical’s use.

About 18 million pounds of methyl bromide--a near record level--was used by farmers in 1995, the last year for which data are available.

The environmental group’s new study found that about 2.4 million pounds were applied within 1 1/2 miles of 758 California schools--and that 73,000 students attended the 107 schools where use exceeded 10,000 pounds a year.

Of the 13 schools where applications were heaviest--at least 50,000 pounds a year within a 1 1/2-mile radius--six were near Salinas in Monterey County and four were in the Oxnard area of Ventura County.