Why is the City of Newport Beach STILL allowing copious amounts of known carcinogens where our children and pets play?!  Especially since they are using them for purely "cosmetic" reasons!  

Recent UCLA research studies show evidence and suggest children who were carried in the womb exposed to pesticides were up to three times as likely to develop one of two types of childhood leukemia. A second study suggests that children in that same proximity had a higher rate of developing brain tumors, according to the author. The report goes on to recommend limiting exposure of pesticides to children.  

Why haven't our city leaders made the health of our children and pets, their priority over weed control?  It should be a basic human right for our children to be protected in the parks and playgrounds where they play, especially since the current exposure is happening for purely cosmetic reasons (weed control).

Did you know that Corona Del Mar and Newport Beach’s City maintained property is frequently sprayed with carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting pesticides? The City of Newport Beach's pesticide usage records reports two of the most commonly applied pesticides are glyphosate(active ingredient in Roundup) and 2,4-D(active ingredient in Speedzone).  

The Environmental Protection Agency released a draft biological evaluation finding that glyphosate is likely to injure or kill 93% of the plants and animals protected under the Endangered Species Act. The long-anticipated draft biological evaluation released by the agency's pesticide office found that 1,676 endangered species are likely to be harmed by glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and the world's most-used pesticide. The draft biological opinion also found that glyphosate adversely modifies critical habitat for 759 endangered species or 96% of all species for which critical habitat has been designated.

Not only is the EPA finally being forced to admit glyphosate's toxic impacts on endangered species.

The World Health Organization's cancer agency states glyphosate as "possibly carcinogenic to humans." Just last year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) public health agency, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), released the long-awaited Draft Toxicological Profile for Glyphosate. And it supports and strengthens the 2015 cancer assessment of another health agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).  Glyphosate is also listed as carcinogenic by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and is being used for purely cosmetic reasons. For more information, please see this Glyphosate Fact Sheet from our medical experts at the Children's Environmental Health Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine Institute for Exposomic Research and this link to the Ramazzini Institute study. 

Despite this warning, the City of Newport Beach continues to use taxpayers' money to continue to purchase glyphosate and other harmful pesticides and herbicides mostly for cosmetic landscaping purposes, i.e., to kill weeds and control pests.

Newport Beach’s contracted landscapers, Park West Landscape and Mariposa, apply pesticides on the city’s medians, rights of way, curbsides, parks, and sports fields.  Many application areas are directly adjacent to waterways and nature preserves (Crystal Cove, Back Bay, Newport Harbor, and the Peninsula). Roundup(glyphosate) and these other harmful pesticides are playing out just like DDT, big tobacco and asbestos have.  They are all marketed to us as "safe" until enough people got sick.

Global Glyphosate Study Pilot Phase Shows Adverse Health Effects at ‘Safe’ Doses. These pesticides may cause significant harm to adults, children and pets; however, they are especially dangerous for our young children and their developing organ systems.

Dandelions do not pose a risk to children, but 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid does. 2,4-D is one of the key ingredients in agent orange, a powerful herbicide, and is another one of the many herbicides frequently used for cosmetic purposes in Corona Del Mar and Newport Beach. This includes the sports fields, parks, and common areas where children play - this needs to stop. 

"We’ve been studying the impact of toxins on children for the past 30 years and reached the inescapable conclusion: little things matter. We’ve discovered that extremely low levels of toxins can impact brain development. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that there is “no safe level of pesticide exposure for children.” - Non-Toxic Neighborhoods' advisor Bruce Lanphear MD

Pesticides are dangerous for all living things, including adults and pregnant women, and are particularly dangerous for children and pets with hand/paw to mouth behavior. 

Alarmingly, pesticides have been shown to drift for miles and persist in indoor carpet fibers for a year after they are tracked inside. The U.S. Geological Survey found that “After they are applied, many pesticides volatilize into the lower atmosphere, a process that can continue for days, weeks, or months after the application, depending on the compound. In addition, pesticides can become airborne attached to wind-blown dust.” 

This issue affects every person, animal, and pet in Corona Del Mar and Newport Beach. We are asking Newport Beach’s City Council to immediately stop the use of these harmful pesticides and switch to proven organic methods and landscaping practices. 

Thankfully there are cost-effective and now proven solutions when it comes to organic landscaping practices. It makes sense from both a well-being and fiscal standpoint. The City of Irvine has demonstrated that you can have beautiful parks, athletic fields, and open space, that meet community expectations, without the use of toxic pesticides.

Did you know that Park West Landscape, contracted by Newport Beach has successfully transitioned the City of Carlsbad CA to organic landscaping practices and products, why not here??? 

Cities and school districts across the U.S. including Tustin, Mission Viejo, Costa Mesa, Irvine, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, Burbank, and Carlsbad have all had their elected officials take the action needed to protect their residents from exposure to these harmful pesticides by bringing forward and voting on an organics first landscaping policy.  We would like to see Corona Del Mar and Newport Beach join in this critical and responsible endeavor.

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION to demonstrate to our city leaders in Corona Del Mar & Newport Beach that you want them to stop using harmful pesticides and herbicides at our parks, playgrounds, athletic fields, and public spaces and switch to proven, safe, and cost-effective organic practices.

Non-Toxic Neighborhoods Advisors: 

Bruce Blumberg, Professor of Developmental and Cell Biology in UCI’s School of Biological Sciences and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering. “The major challenge with showing that a chemical causes cancer in humans [as opposed to animals] is that cancer typically develops many years after exposure.” Bruce Blumberg

Bruce Lanphear MD, MPH, Epidemiologist, Professor Simon Fraser University Director of Children’s Health and Environmental "Toxins can have a life-long impact on children. We’ve also discovered that even extremely low levels of toxins can impact brain development. By allowing children to be exposed to toxins or chemicals of unknown toxicity, we are unwittingly using our children in a massive experiment." Bruce Lanphear

Philip J. Landrigan, MD, MSc, FAAP, Dean for Global Health. Professor of Preventive Medicine and Pediatrics
Arnhold Institute for Global Health Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai “Pregnant women, infants and young children are especially vulnerable to toxic chemicals in their environments. Even extremely low-dose exposures during these vulnerable periods in early life can result in lasting damage. This is why it is so important to protect the most sensitive among us. By protecting them, we preserve the health of all.” Philip J. Landrigan, MD, MSc, FAAP

Dean Baker, MD, MPH Director, Center for Occupational and Environmental Health Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Epidemiology University of California, Irvine

For more information, please visit our partner's website: www.nontoxicneighborhoods.org

Thank you,
Sherry, Robert, Dean, Eric, Bruce, Kim, Phil, Shelley, Kristal, and the rest of the team...

Jane Goodall's quote in support of our partners - Non-Toxic Neighborhoods:

"Time and science are revealing just how harmful these toxins can be to humans and the entire ecosystem.  It's encouraging to know there's a team working to stop the use of harmful pesticides.  A group called Non-Toxic Neighborhoods is doing good work and finding success by engaging in a dialogue with city and school district leaders. I hope people all over the world will be moved to take similar action."

- Dr. Jane Goodall