On Dec. 5, 2017, a contingent of citizens lead by Non-Toxic Carlsbad who had worked with city staff to develop a more comprehensive Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan, modeled after Irvine’s, convinced the city council to implement a plan that would expand a pilot program from “high content” areas like school grounds, to all city properties. The program will be phased in as staff develops the tools for reducing, and hopefully, eliminating synthetic pesticides, opting, instead, for organic pesticides which are less harmful.
Since WWII, tens of thousands of synthetic chemicals have been created, many to help us but some have been very harmful (like DDT and dioxins) to human health and the environment. It may surprise many to know that only a relatively handful of those have been tested for safety and toxicity by the FDA, USDA or EPA. Virtually none have been tested in conjunction with other chemicals which may be present in a pesticide’s formulation. These combinations may act synergistically to worsen their individual effects. And this is on top of all the other chemicals we come in contact with daily. Therefore, minimizing contact with pesticides as this IPM plan is intended to do will be a good thing for all of us. The city will be monitoring the effects on the landscape to reassess the plan as it proceeds.
