SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) “Pesticides” is a collective term for a broad spectrum of chemicals whose intended purpose is to kill unwanted insects, plants, molds, and rodents. Health effects of toxic pesticide exposure ranges from acute symptoms to chronic toxicity. Pesticides can have profound impacts on the developing child, and even minute exposure has the potential to adversely affect the developing brain. Longitudinal development of the human brain continues from childhood into adulthood.
(b) The American Academy of Pediatrics indicates that, “Children encounter pesticides daily in air, food, dust, and soil and on surfaces through home and public lawn or garden application, household insecticide use, application to pets, and agricultural product residues.” The academy recommends implementing public policies that prioritize least toxic pesticide use.
(c) A report from the Department of Pesticide Regulation indicates that 178 different active pesticide ingredients were used in California schools in 2015, with the toxic herbicide glyphosate and the acute poison strychnine being the top two most used chemicals. No least toxic pesticides were among the top 10 pesticides used.
(d) In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) evaluated the carcinogenic risks of glyphosate and IARC Monograph 112 further classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” finding a positive association for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
(e) In July 2017, the state added glyphosate to a list of chemicals recognized as carcinogens in the Labor Code and under Proposition 65, also known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.
(f) In 2018, a California jury awarded $78 million to a school groundskeeper formerly employed by the Benicia Unified School District who was injured, including developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, after repeated exposure to glyphosate through his school job duties that required applying herbicides containing glyphosate.
(g) It has been reported that at least 61 cities, counties, and communities across 22 states have voluntarily considered, moved to enact, or have enacted moratoriums, restrictions, or bans on the use of glyphosate due to findings of toxicity.
(h) Children are especially vulnerable to health effects of toxic pesticide exposure because of their age-appropriate hand-to-mouth behaviors, closer proximity to the ground, higher breathing rates, and decreased ability for detoxification as compared to adults. These behaviors put children at increased risk of adverse impacts to cognitive health and hormonal development as a result of toxic pesticide exposure.