Call To Action: Support AB 1069 (Monning) & SB 759 (Leno)

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Support AB 1069 (Monning) regarding pesticide illness reporting.

Update: AB 1069 will be heard in the Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, May 13.

See bill text AB 1069

Here is some background on why this is much-needed legislation:

AB 1069 makes essential improvements over the currently ineffective monitoring of pesticide related illness.

In the fall of 2007, during aerial pesticide spraying of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties for the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM), the lack of an adequate means for reporting and tracking of pesticide-related illnesses was one of many negative consequences associated with that emergency insect-eradication program. Residents and visitors were unable to determine exactly when, where and how to report their reactions to the spray.

This confusion resulted in pesticide illness-reports being scattered across public and private forums, sent to a variety of local and state agencies and personnel, and documented using several different forms. The lack of a standardized reporting mechanism caused hundreds of illness reports to be dismissed as "inadequate" or "improperly filed" by various state agencies working to evaluate these illness reports. Additionally, the confusion over how to register illnesses likely led to an under-reporting of adverse human health effects.

California law requires everyone damaged by a pesticide application to file an official form with his or her local agricultural commissioner within 30 days of exposure. As a result of not being informed of this affirmative duty, hundreds of residents failed to file such forms.

AB 1069 establishes a telephone hotline staffed with public health personnel in advance of any pesticide spraying. These public health personnel are to be knowledgeable about the pesticide application, familiar with the paperwork required to register health complaints, and charged with inputting pesticide-related health complaints into a database.

This common-sense legislation will benefit the health of all Californians. Making it easier for the people of California and its agencies to monitor pesticide exposure will help document the effects of these chemicals and we hope, in time, will lead to a diminition of their use.

Send endorsement letters for the bill to Assembly Member Monning, Fax: 916-319-2127

Download sample letter

SupportAB1069.doc

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Re: Support for AB 1069 (Monning)


Dear Assemblymember Monning,

I am writing to endorse Assembly Bill 1069 (Monning). I support this bill because it makes essential improvements over the currently ineffective monitoring of pesticide related illness.

In the fall of 2007, during aerial pesticide spraying of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties for the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM), the lack of an adequate means for reporting and tracking of pesticide-related illnesses was one of many negative consequences associated with that emergency insect-eradication program. Residents and visitors were unable to determine exactly when, where and how to report their reactions to the spray.

This confusion resulted in pesticide illness-reports being scattered across public and private forums, sent to a variety of local and state agencies and personnel, and documented using several different forms. The lack of a standardized reporting mechanism caused hundreds of illness reports to be dismissed as "inadequate" or "improperly filed" by various state agencies working to evaluate these illness reports. Additionally, the confusion over how to register illnesses likely led to an under-reporting of adverse human health effects.

AB 1069 establishes a telephone hotline staffed with public health personnel in advance of any pesticide spraying. These public health personnel are to be knowledgeable about the pesticide application, familiar with the paperwork required to register health complaints, and charged with inputting pesticide-related health complaints into a database.

This common-sense legislation will benefit the health of all Californians. Making it easier for the people of California and its agencies to monitor pesticide exposure will help document the effects of these chemicals and we hope, in time, will lead to a diminition of their use.

Sincerely, ______________________

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Support SB 759 (Leno) regarding disclosure of inert pesticide ingredients.

Update: AB 759 will be heard in the Appropriations Committee on May 18.

Your help is needed now to support an excellent bill by Senator Mark Leno requiring that all ingredients in a pesticide, including the so-called "inerts," be disclosed for any emergency aerial spray such as the LBAM spray. This bill would be a significant step in mandating the disclosure of inert ingredients which usually make up more than 80 or 90 % of a pesticide's formula, are often as dangerous as (if not more dangerous than) the "active" ingredients, and are not now required by law to be revealed.

Please fax a letter of support (see sample below) as soon as you can to your state senators. We especially needs letters to the Bay Area Senators listed below who will vote on the bill at upcoming hearings.

Senate Health Committee (hearing on April 22):

representing Contra Costa County:
Senator Mark DeSaulnier
State Capitol, Room 2054
Sacramento, CA 95814
FAX: (916) 445-2527

representing the South Bay:
Senator Elaine Alquist, Chair
Health Committee
State Capitol, Room 2191
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 324-0283 (FAX)

other Health Committee Senators to contact if you live in their districts: Maldonado, Cedillo, Wolk, Pavley, and Negrete McLeod

Senate Environmental Quality (hearing on April 27):

representing the East Bay
Senator Loni Hancock

State Capitol, Room 3092
Sacramento, CA 95814

Fax: (916) 327-1997
representing San Leandro, Hayward, Fremont
Senator Ellen Corbett
State Capitol, Room 5108
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: (916) 327-2433

other Environmental Quality Committee Senators to contact if you live in their districts: Simitian, Lowenthal, Pavley

Senator NAME
ADDRESS and FAX

Re: Support for SB 759

Dear Senator NAME:

I am writing in support of Senate Bill 759. Our organization strongly supports this bill’s goal of supplying health care providers with timely access to complete lists of all the ingredients in aerial pesticides, including “inert” ingredients.

I applaud the bill’s effort require that “inert” pesticide ingredients, many of which pose serious health and environmental risks, are disclosed to the health care providers and the public, before being applied aerially by a state contractor, including emergency health care responders, school nurses, and local health departments.

Federal regulations only require pesticide manufacturers to disclose those chemicals in their products that are classified as “active” ingredients. Manufacturers routinely claim that the identity of the other ingredients in their pesticides is confidential, leaving health care professionals treating people exposed to the product without the information they need. In some cases, the identity of up to 99% of the entire pesticide product is not available.

As the U.S. EPA itself has pointed out, “many consumers have a misleading impression of the term ‘inert ingredient,’ believing it to mean water or other harmless ingredients”, when in fact the compound “may have biological activity of its own, it may be toxic to humans, and it may be chemically active”. Recent research has shown that so-called “inert” ingredients may increase the toxicity of pesticides to developing nervous systems, cause genetic damage, and disrupt the normal function of hormonal systems.

Access to pesticide information is critical. By providing information to health care professionals, we are creating a more informed public and a medical community that is better able to diagnose and treat patients.

Thank you for your efforts to provide information to the public and health care professionals when it matters most.

Sincerely,

LETTERS MUST HAVE A SIGNATURE TO BE COUNTED AS OFFICIAL SUPPORT FOR BILLS

Cc: Pesticide Watch, (916) 448-4560 (FAX)
Senator Mark Leno, (916) 445-4722 (FAX)

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http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/view/99898

Leno Bill Requiring Disclosure of Pesticide Ingredients Approved by Senate Health Committee
California Political Desk
April 23, 2009

SACRAMENTO – The Senate´s Health Committee passed legislation that provides public health agencies and emergency responders timely access to complete ingredient lists of aerial pesticides. Senate Bill 759, authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), requires the disclosure of inert or inactive ingredients in pesticides before they are approved for use by state regulators. The bill passed committee with a 8-2 bipartisan vote.

"In case of an emergency, it is critical that our health care professionals can easily access a complete list of pesticide ingredients so they can properly treat anyone who was exposed to them," said Senator Leno. "Current law keeps emergency responders in the dark by permitting pesticide manufacturers to shield many of the ingredients they use from public disclosure," he said.

Federal regulation requires pesticide manufacturers to disclose the ingredients of industrial chemicals only if they are classified as "active" ingredients. More than 99 percent of the ingredients in certain pesticides are designated as inert or inactive, so they are never disclosed to the public. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, many consumers have a misleading impression of the term "inert ingredient," believing it to be water or other harmless ingredients, when in fact the ingredient may have biological activity of its own, be toxic to humans and be chemically active.

In the fall of 2007, the California Department of Food and Agriculture sprayed aerial pesticides in coordination with the federal government as part of a campaign to eradicate the Light Brown Apple Moth. In the communities where these chemicals were applied, hundreds of Californians reported falling ill with everything from headaches and rashes to chest pains and asthma attacks.

"I am concerned that we, as citizens and health care providers, don´t know what is in the environmental chemicals we are exposed to," said Dr. Ann Haiden, a Bay Area physician and internist who testified before the committee. "We need and deserve to have this information to be able to prevent harm and better help people who develop symptoms after exposure."

SB 759 is co-sponsored by Pesticide Watch and the Center for Environmental Health. It also has the support of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which adopted a resolution on April 21 that urges the California Legislature to pass the measure.

"Pesticide manufacturers have a special responsibility to provide emergency responders with the full list of their products´ ingredients when pesticides are sprayed around California communities." said Paul Schramski, State Director of Pesticide Watch. "A trip to the hospital shouldn't turn into a guessing game for health care providers."

SB 759 will be heard next in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.