Community orgs push back against lax draft regulations about the fumigant 1,3-D.

On Friday, Nov. 15, as the sun set on a crisp evening, farmworkers, teachers and members of Californians for Pesticide Reform assembled in front of CineLux Green Valley in Watsonville holding signs, gathering in protest about a controversial pesticide that remains in use on farms in Monterey County.

The chemical is 1,3-dichloropropene, a cancer-causing fumigant that is used to eradicate pests in the soil. It’s also known as 1,3-D or Telone, manufactured by Dow Chemical. It’s a chemical that has been banned in 34 countries, yet remains the third most used pesticide in Monterey County, according to a 2021 report by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR).

“There is a simple, science-based solution,” said Angel Garcia, codirector of Californians for Pesticide Reform. “DPR, you need to limit exposure to 1,3-D to all people living in California because at the end of the day, it is imperative that science must drive our regulations and not racist politics.”

On Nov. 14, DPR released a draft regulation proposing allowable levels that exceed those recommended by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to address the potential 40-year working lifetime cancer risk. The draft also includes guidelines that consider only certain groups, which farmworkers and local teachers argue make incorrect assumptions about who is exposed to this chemical and when.

“It’s good that DPR is finally using the OEHHA findings for some. But why not all?” Jacob Sandoval, state director of California League of United Latin American Citizens, said in a press release. “Everybody should get the same health protective regulation that keeps 1,3-D levels below the 0.04 parts per billion per day standard set by OEHHA.”

The chemical was banned for a period of time, about five years in 1990, following the state Air Resources Board citing high levels of the pesticide found in air quality readings taken in the Central Valley.

DPR will hold in-person and virtual public hearings on the proposed regulations in January, including one in Salinas on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 5:45pm at the National Steinbeck Center. It plans to adopt a final draft in August 2025.

“My parents work in the fields, my cousins and uncles. It’s sad to see how my community has been targeted,” CSUMB student Rocio Ortiz said at the protest. “Communities like Watsonville are sacrifice zones for corporate profits. We have to fight back against this attack on farmworker communities.”