The Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety offers annual funding opportunities for outreach and education activities and short-term research to support projects related to agricultural health and safety in Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada.
The Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) honored Christopher Simmons, PhD, and his research team, with an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Achievement Award for their work with biosolarization, a process that combines the sun’s heat with soil amendments to manage weeds and other soil-borne pests.
by Emily Walsh, Director of Community Outreach & Mesothelioma Cancer Expert
Agricultural workers face numerous airborne threats every day. Air pollutant emissions, soil fumigants, pesticides, mold, asbestos, and dust are a few of the potential lung health hazards that an agricultural worker can come into contact through work.
Potential health risks of wildfire smoke may be magnified due to pesticide application across California’s vast agricultural land and the use of fire retardants to fight fires.
WCAHS investigator Dr. Chris Simmons is helping Chico based almond grower Rory Crowley improve his orchard's health with biosolarization, an alternative to toxic soil fumigation.
California’s San Joaquin Valley (SJV) offers a unique opportunity to study how exposure to particulate matter emissions from targeted agricultural practices and activities affect farmworker health.
Biosolarization simply means harvesting the power of biology (bio) plus the sun (sol) to kill pests. Add plastic and compost, and you are ready to roll.
