Pesticides and COVID

To the Editor:

There is no doubt COVID is deadly. Unfortunately, the antimicrobial pesticides being applied to combat the virus on various surfaces by untrained employees has potential to poison these employees and those around them.

California state law requires employers to train employees that apply a pesticide. The law also requires employers to supply their employees with the required PPE for each pesticide being used. This training must be performed by a qualified person as required by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.

The minimum required PPE in California are chemical resistant gloves, safety glasses, long sleeves, long pants and shoes.

Repeated exposure to these chemicals by an unprotected person can lead to a wide range of health problems, including skin damage, eye damage and respiratory illnesses.

State law also requires the pesticide be applied in the safest and most effective way. The most common way these products are being applied is by turning a liquid to an aerosol with a spray bottle.

This poses the greatest risk of exposure since the airborne particles can remain suspended for several minutes. Anyone nearby these particles can get them on their skin in their eyes or inhale them. Disinfecting wipes would be safer but are also registered pesticides.

These products were not intended to be applied continuously eight hours a day by a protected worker much less an unprotected one. If you're applying these products with no training, report it to your supervisor and document it. Retaliation for doing so is a crime!

This process has been going on since COVID broke out over a year ago, maybe it's time to rethink what's going on and consult with professionals who are licensed for this type of business. Bill Seldon

Columbia