Safer Alternatives for Pest Control in Agriculture - Making the Public Health Case for Change 

Conference, University of California, Davis, May 28, 2009

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety, and the University of California (UC) Integrated Pest Management Program (IPM) jointly sponsored a conference that brought together attendees and speakers from academia, the agricultural and insurance industries, non-governmental organizations, and state and local government. The varied speakers demonstrated the complex interactions of worker and community health, sustainable agriculture, and food production. A panel discussion followed the presentations and identified areas where future efforts should be focused.

For a summary of the ideas presented at the meeting with links to presentations, see Safer Alternatives for Pest Control Conference Summary (PDF).

Conference Presentations

Objective 1: Explore the public health impacts of pesticide use in agriculture, assess the options for safer alternatives, and worker hazards associated with alternative practices

• Impacts of Conventional Pesticide Use on Worker Health (PDF)* - Rupali Das, MD, MPH, Occupational Health Branch, CDPH
• Effects of Pesticides on Children’s Neurodevelopment (PDF)* - Kim Harley PhD, UC Berkeley, Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS)
• Pesticides in Dust from Homes in an Agricultural Area (PDF, 1.1 MB)* - Martha Harnly, MPH, Environmental Health Investigations Branch, CDPH
• The IPM Continuum: Moving Toward Safer Alternatives (PDF)* - Peter Goodell, PhD, UC IPM
• Convergence of Sustainable Agriculture and Public Health for a Safe and Healthy Food Economy (PDF)* - Margaret Reeves, PhD, Pesticide Action Network of North America

Objective 2: Explore potential barriers to growers in choosing to use reduced risk pesticides

• Alternative Strategies to Manual Weeding and Conventional Pesticide-Based Weed Control (PDF, 1.8 MB)* - David Slaughter, PhD, UC Davis Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
• Citrus IPM: Managing Pests in a Real World System (PDF)* - Elizabeth Grafton-Cardwell, PhD, IPM Specialist and Research Entomologist, UC Riverside
• Safe Pesticide Use in Agriculture – Critical Time-Concentration Issues - Robert Krieger, PhD, Cooperative Extension Toxicologist, UC Riverside (presentation not available)
• Certification of Sustainable Farming Practices (PDF)* - Clifford Ohmart, PhD, from the Lodi Winegrape Commission

Objective 3: Explore safer technologies and develop strategies to promote the use of safer pest management alternatives in agriculture

• Industry Approach to Developing Environmentally Compatible Pest Control - Henry Buckwalter, MSc, from Compliance Services International (presentation not available)
• Biopesticides as Environmentally Friendly Alternatives (PDF, 3 MB)* - Pamela Marrone, PhD, from Marrone Organic Innovations, Inc.
• Emerging Non-chemical Disinfection and Disinfestation Processes for Food and Agriculture (PDF, 1.4 MB)* - Manuel Lagunas-Solar, PhD, UC Davis Crocker Nuclear Laboratory (not in attendance)

Conference Partners

• Center for Occupational and Environmental Health
• Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety
• University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program