Managing Risk, Reinforcing Environmental Racism: The Biopolitics of Pesticide Regulation in California Agriculture.
This paper provides a retrospective on California's oversight of 1,3‐dichloropropene (1,3‐D). It utilizes archival documents, including internal memos, emails, and risk assessments, to demonstrate how the state's Department of Pesticide Regulation consistently expanded allowable 1,3‐D use while pres...
| Published in: | Review of Policy Research Vol. 42; no. 6; pp. 1509 - 1525 |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
Nov2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=189504680&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 189504680 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 1541132X MJJ jtl: Review of Policy Research issn: 1541132X maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Nov2025 vid: 42 iid: 6 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell artinfo: ui: 189504680 10.1111/ropr.70038 ppf: 1509 ppct: 16 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 463KB tig: atl: Managing Risk, Reinforcing Environmental Racism: The Biopolitics of Pesticide Regulation in California Agriculture. aug: au: Noli, Kaitlyn Alvarez affil: School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University, Boston Massachusetts, , USA su: California California Environmental Protection Agency. Dept. of Pesticide Regulation Environmental racism Health policy Disclosure Poor communities Organizational governance Agricultural industries Dichloropropane Pesticide use regulations sug: subj: Environmental racism Health policy Disclosure Poor communities California California Environmental Protection Agency. Dept. of Pesticide Regulation Administration of Public Health Programs Pesticide and Other Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers Agricultural chemical and other farm supplies merchant wholesalers Organizational governance Agricultural industries Dichloropropane Pesticide use regulations keyword: 1,3‐dichloropropene biopolitical mechanisms environmental injustice farmworker health neoliberal governance pesticide risk assessment 1,3‐dicloropropeno Evaluación de riesgos de los pesticidas Injusticia ambiental Mecanismos biopolíticos Salud de los trabajadores agrícolas 农场工人健康 农药风险评估 环境不正义 生命政治机制 1,3‐二氯丙烯 1,3‐dichloropropene biopolitical mechanisms environmental injustice farmworker health neoliberal governance pesticide risk assessment 1,3‐dicloropropeno Evaluación de riesgos de los pesticidas Injusticia ambiental Mecanismos biopolíticos Salud de los trabajadores agrícolas 农场工人健康 农药风险评估 环境不正义 生命政治机制 1,3‐二氯丙烯 ab: This paper provides a retrospective on California's oversight of 1,3‐dichloropropene (1,3‐D). It utilizes archival documents, including internal memos, emails, and risk assessments, to demonstrate how the state's Department of Pesticide Regulation consistently expanded allowable 1,3‐D use while presenting each policy change as scientifically justified. The findings indicate that regulators depended on industry modeling, adopted exposure assumptions that minimized short‐term spikes and refused to implement stricter standards recommended by public health agencies. These adjustments, which were often portrayed as protective reforms, ultimately preserved longstanding racial and economic disparities. The article illustrates, with historical depth, how risk governance can evolve over time through waivers, revised thresholds, and technical justifications—steps that maintain pesticide‐intensive production despite ongoing harms. In policy terms, this study emphasizes the necessity for regulatory processes that demand stronger cumulative exposure analyses and guarantee transparent public oversight. By tracing how governance tools transformed to address increasing scrutiny while preserving industry access to hazardous pesticides, the paper illustrates how pesticide regulation can become a means of environmental racism. This situation calls for robust protections and the inclusion of marginalized communities in decision making. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|