Pesticides

OEHHA performs a variety of activities related to the protection of human health from toxic effects of pesticides. These activities include providing education and outreach to the general public, health care professionals, and other state and local agencies; performing surveillance of pesticide illness and injury; evaluating pesticide toxicity data and human exposure; and developing regulations on agricultural worker health and safety. OEHHA works in collaboration with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) on many of these activities.

Find who to contact if you believe you, or someone you know may have been exposed to a pesticide.

If this is an emergency, call 911. In less serious cases, call your doctor or the Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222.

Find out how to report an incident in case of pesticide use complaints or concerns.

To report an incident, call your County Agricultural commissioner or DPR’s information line at 1-87PestLine (1-877-378-5463). After-hours or on weekends, call the non-emergency number of your local police or sheriff’s department. You can also use one the following reporting systems:

Invasive Species

Human health assessment of insecticides used to control invasive species

Clinician Trainings

Trainings for physicians and nurses on pesticide related illnesses

Peer Review

Peer review of pesticide toxicology data and human health risk assessments

Health Education Resources

Educational materials for health care providers, their patients, and local health departments

Medical Supervision Program

A California program to prevent excessive exposure to organophosphate and carbamate pesticides

Illness Reporting by Health Professionals

Reporting instructions and requirements for health care providers and local health departments

 

COVID-19 Related Information

 

Reports, Notices, Documents

Derivation of the public health concentrations (PHC) in water for metolachlor and its environmental degradates metolachlor ethanesulfonic acid (MESA) and metolachlor oxanilic acid (MOXA).  The PHCs derived are 1300 parts per billion (ppb) for MESA, 3200 ppb for MOXA, and 7 ppb for metolachlor.

A review of the draft RCD for the pesticide propanil provided by DPR
(dated and received December 30, 2016).  The draft HEAD was included as Appendix D in the draft RCD.

Information regarding how to report a pesticide illness is provided, along with an overview of the Pesticide Illness Surveillance program.

Registration for physicians who are qualified to be Medical Supervisors (AB 2892).

Questions and answers about the biological insecticide GF-120 NF Naturalyte® (Spinosad) in  English, Spanish, Armenian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hindi, Punjabi, and Tagalog.