Cancer Fears Shadow Agricultural Workers.

"GREENFIELD, Calif. -- When Agustin Espinoza Jaramillo shuffles to the doctor who treats his prostate cancer, he says he thinks about the three decades he spent applying pesticides to the fields that surround this farming town.

Jaramillo, 72 years old, long knew some pest-killing chemicals have been linked to health problems including cancer. Even so, his own diagnosis came as a surprise.

"I can't say that I fully understood everything I was applying," Jaramillo said.

Farmworkers and families in Greenfield believe cancer cases in their community were caused by pesticide used in nearby fields. Establishing whether pesticide or another environmental exposure caused cancer in a particular person is difficult. Many factors influence whether someone develops cancer, and the interplay among those forces isn't fully understood.

Some research shows pesticides can harm workers and people who live near fields where the chemicals are applied. Exposure to some pesticides has been linked to respiratory problems, neurological disorders and some cancers, said Cynthia Curl, director of the Agricultural Health Lab at Boise State University, who has published studies on the topic.

"The tricky part is saying any one person's cancer was due to pesticide exposure," she said.

Greenfield sits in the Salinas Valley, where the cultivation of vegetables, wine grapes and strawberries drives the economy. The town's middle and high schools and many homes are across the street from fields where growers apply some of the nine million pounds of pesticides used in surrounding Monterey County each year.

Some research has connected specific agricultural pesticides to increased risks of cancers including prostate, brain and blood cancers. Farmers and workers who apply pesticides to fields are diagnosed with those cancers at higher-than-average rates, some studies suggest. Other studies have presented mixed results. The duration and nature of an exposure affect the risk pesticides pose, researchers said.

Jaramillo, who migrated from Mexico in 1971, learned about pesticide risks from the work of labor leader Cesar Chavez. Jaramillo and his wife joined protests Chavez led against the insecticide DDT. 

The Environmental Protection Agency, which banned DDT in 1972, lists it as a probable carcinogen. 

Jaramillo applied pesticide in fields around Greenfield until 2008, when he switched to fixing tractors. After a two-month bout of fatigue and aches in 2019, Jaramillo visited his doctor and was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.

Many Greenfield residents associate local cancer cases with pesticide exposure, including City Council Member Yanely Martinez. She believes pesticide exposure caused breast cancer in her aunt, who was an agricultural worker.

"It's just not something that shocks us anymore, and it shouldn't be like that," Martinez said.

Martinez and other advocates want farmers to use fewer pesticides including one called Telone, manufactured by Dow, which is injected into the soil. The EPA has said some evidence suggests Telone could be carcinogenic, and California lists it as a carcinogen and restricts its use.

Dow didn't respond to requests to comment.

California's Department of Pesticide Regulation has said it plans to implement tighter restrictions on the chemical starting in 2024.

Martinez and other advocates say the new regulations don't go far enough. Monterey County's agricultural commissioner Juan Hidalgo denied their requests for restrictions beyond the statewide measures. "I rely on the state to be able to do the science," he said.

Steve McIntyre, owner of Monterey Pacific, which farms 18,000 acres of wine grapes across the region, said regulations are stricter and pesticides in use today are less heavy duty than ones he helped his father apply in his youth.

"I'm not saying they're perfect," he said. "They evolve. And as we learn more, they change, and hopefully they're improving."

One resident pushing for tougher statewide regulations is Audelia Cervantes Garcia, 63, who lost her husband Alejandro Cervantes Perez to lung cancer in 2010.

Perez started weeding crops in Greenfield at 16. He followed the grape harvest around the Salinas Valley. In 2005, when Perez was 45, he developed a persistent cough. In 2007, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and put on a wait list for a transplant.

Perez was an occasional smoker. Some evidence suggests exposure to some pesticides could increase lung-cancer risk. Perez's doctors encouraged Garcia to find out which pesticides her husband had worked with. She consulted lawyers who told her linking her husband's cancer to pesticide exposure would be difficult.

Garcia wants officials to investigate local cancer cases. "We as a community need to stop being fearful in speaking up," she said." [1]

1. U.S. News: Cancer Fears Shadow Agricultural Workers. Abbott, Brianna; Sanchez, Zaydee.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 20 Nov 2023: A.3.