California launched a new statewide online pesticide notification system this week that will warn farmworkers beforehand of upcoming pesticide applications.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) says its Spray Days California online pesticide notification system is the “first-of its-kind.”

According to the Department of Pesticide Regulation, the system was developed over four years and builds on existing regulatory requirements for pesticide use in California that protect people and the environment.

The Spray Days system allows people to search a map of California for notices of intended pesticide applications for the following day. For fumigants, the information will be provided 48 hours in advance.

People can also sign up to receive notices of pending pesticide use through email or text message. The notices are for restricted material pesticides only.

Angel Garcia, co-director of Californians for Pesticide Reform, called the launch “truly history.” The statewide network of more than 200 organizations spent years lobbying for a warning system to reduce harms caused by the toxic chemical.

Gustavo Aguirre, associate director at the Delano-based Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, said the system’s launch is a “great victory” and the result of collective action across the state.

Garcia said in the last five years the coalitions have met with state and local elected officials, participated in public hearings, contributed to public comments and participated in news conferences and protests.

Cesar Lara, director of workforce and economic development for the California Labor Federation, said “there’s approximately 500,000 farmworkers in California that face hazardous pesticide exposure.”

Lara said many of the schools in the Central Valley and Central Coast are located next to fields, exposing thousands of children to pesticides.

Garcia said not only does California use more pesticides than any other state but also uses more than 130 pesticides that are not approved in the European Union.

“Farmworker communities have demanded a ‘heads up’ in order to take measures to reduce the risk of exposure to our loved ones,” Garcia said. “We need far better protections from the state, but this is a giant step forward toward transparency about toxic pesticide use.”

Erika Alfaro, a public health nurse in Northern California and member of the Safe Ag Safe Schools group, said the pesticide warning system helps agricultural communities “take the proper health precautions by closing windows and doors, taking clothes off the line, and allowing the especially vulnerable, like pregnant or asthmatic individuals, to stay indoors at home, work, or school.”

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