Growers and other users will be asked to increase the buffer zone between fields where they spray the pesticide and inhabited areas such as homes and schools, the state Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday. The agency will proceed with plans to list the chemical, chlorpyrifos, as a known hazard to humans, under Proposition 65. The agency also updated its scientific assessment of the chemical, which has been linked to birth defects and reproductive maladies. Authorities said the pesticide had drifted more than a half-mile from the fields where it was being applied. The Kern County Department of Agriculture last week fined two nearby growers for violating pesticide application rules.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 18, 2017 22:50 UTC