"The use of organophosphates - a type of agricultural pesticide linked to adverse impacts on children's brain development - jumped by 26% from 2016 to 2021 in Monterey County, a recent study found. This was despite the fact that, across California, use of these chemicals dropped after the state banned the most common one - chlorpyrifos - in 2020. Monterey was a major outlier, since only one other county, Santa Barbara, increased use, and only by 4%."
"The researchers found that 50.1% of pregnant women in Monterey County who gave birth in 2021 lived within just 1 kilometer of organophosphate application. By comparison, just 7.5% of pregnant women lived that close to the pesticide use statewide. The inequities were stark, with five times as many pregnant people who identified as Hispanic or Latino having this chemical exposure in Monterey, as compared to this same group statewide."
Organophosphate agricultural pesticide use in Monterey County increased 26% between 2016 and 2021, contrasting with statewide declines after California banned chlorpyrifos in 2020. Fifty point one percent of pregnant people who gave birth in Monterey in 2021 lived within one kilometer of organophosphate applications, compared with 7.5% statewide. Only Santa Barbara showed an increase among other counties, and that rise was 4%. Hispanic and Latino pregnant people in Monterey faced about five times the proximity exposure compared with the same group statewide. Organophosphates are linked to adverse impacts on children's brain development. Calculations compared application weight between 2016 and 2021 and mapped applications near residences corresponding to 2021 births to identify spatial and demographic patterns.
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