DPR Issues Status Update on Active Work to Mitigate Pesticide Impacts

What you need to know: DPR has released its latest update on actions to continuously evaluate pesticides and mitigate risks to health and the environment. The report highlights progress to date, including 19 actions taken in the past six months to help the department evaluate and mitigate risks associated with 22 pesticides.

SACRAMENTO—Today, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) published an update on its ongoing work to continuously evaluate registered pesticides and actions taken to mitigate impacts on human health, wildlife and the environment.

DPR conducts many activities to continuously evaluate pesticides, including:

• Reviewing emerging scientific data and information
• Tracking pesticide illnesses
• Ecosystem monitoring
• Reviewing pesticide use data
• Collecting and testing air samples in four high-use areas for 40 pesticides and their degradation byproducts
• Testing fresh fruits and vegetables for 500 pesticides
• Sampling and testing groundwater for 100 pesticides
• Conducting surface water monitoring for 75 pesticides in urban and agricultural areas
• Initiating targeted studies

Updates to DPR’s Continuous Evaluation and Mitigation table reflect actions planned and completed to identify or mitigate risk. Mitigation measures can include restrictions on how a product is applied, how much of a product can be used, or specific requirements for use.

Today’s update outlines the department’s actions as of January 1, 2026 and anticipated next steps. DPR is currently prioritizing actions for 25 pesticides with targeted completion dates between 2025 and 2029. Over the past six months, DPR has completed 19 actions to identify or mitigate risks associated with 22 pesticides. The department has met almost all goals within one quarter of the timelines posted in its June 2025 update.

DPR is required to post an annual update each July on its continuous evaluation work in accordance with AB 2113 (Stats. 2024, Chapter 60). This six-month update is intended to share current progress.

This year, DPR will convene a new Scientific Prioritization and Review Committee (SPARC) to support the department’s efforts to prioritize pesticides for continuous evaluation and potential mitigation or regulatory action. The committee will provide science-based recommendations to inform DPR’s data-driven process for identifying and addressing potential risks to human health and the environment from pesticide use. SPARC will meet quarterly and serve as a transparent, open forum for discussion of potential priority actions.

For more information on the committee, and DPR’s proposed pesticide prioritization process, please visit the SPARC webpage.