Pesticides

The use of public health pesticides in California is a very important subject. It involves a number of programs, ranging from pesticide use reporting to the Department of Pesticide Regulation via County Agricultural Commissioners, Surveillance programs for resistance to pesticides by mosquitoes and other pests of public health importance, and training and certification of applicators of public health pesticides. Information on these subjects can be found under this general category. Also included are links to other resources on use and safety of public health pesticides.

Applicator training and certification

California has one of the strictest programs for the registration and use of pesticides in the United States. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR), a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) has the primary responsibility for regulating all aspects of pesticide sales and use to protect the public health and the environment. They are also responsible for enforcement of California pesticide laws. This includes the requirement of training and certification of pesticide applicators. For public health pesticides, CDPR has delegated training and certification to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), and the Vector-borne Disease Section (VBDS) of CDPH conducts periodic testing of new applicants for licenses for pesticide application as well as existing license holders.

 

Training materials for pesticide certification and re-certification are available on the VBDS website (VBDS Training) and also under this section. Included here are pesticide training manuals and other study materials, including practice quizzes in various forms.

 

Regulations from the California Department of Public Health concerning pesticide training and certification can be found here: Regulations

Category A - Pesticide application and safety

Category A covers the application of public health pesticides and the procedures and equipment needed to ensure the safety of applicators, the public, and the environment from adverse effects of such applications. Some of the topics in this category are descriptions of public health pests; classification of pesticides; pesticide labeling; first aid procedures for pesticide poisoning; protective clothing and equipment of pesticide applications; the use of pesticide application equipment, including calibration; and the handling of pesticide wastes. Chemicals used for weed control (herbicides) are also covered here.

Practice questions - Category A

There are three sets of questions in Category A.  Each set covers subject areas in approximately the same order as they appear in the latest Category A training manual.

 

The subject areas covered are as follows:

 

Part I. Classification and formulation of pesticides, labels and labelling of pesticides, and toxicity of pesticides to humans.

Part II. First aid for pesticide poisoning, handling of pesticides, and protective equipment and clothing for applicators.

Part III. Pesticide equipment and calibration, pesticide application problems, handling and disposal of hazardous wastes, and the future of public health pesticides.

 

Manual - Category A

This manual is designed to help prepare government agency employees for testing for competence under Category A - Pesticide application and safety.

Manual

Study aids - Category A

These study aids are designed to assist those looking to test themselves in the subject matter found in the latest Category A training manual.

Category B - Mosquito biology and control

Category B includes the classification and identification of mosquitoes of California, their biology and ecology, and the control of mosquitoes using modern methods that fall under strategies known as integrated pest management (IPM), or integrated vector management (IVM). Also included in this category are methods of surveillance for mosquitoes and public relations associated with mosquito control.

Practice questions - Category B

There are three sets of questions in Category B.  Each set covers subject areas in approximately the same order as they appear in the latest Category B training manual.

 

The subject areas covered are as follows:

 

Part I: Mosquito biology and ecology, public health importance, and classification.

Part II: Principles of mosquito control, chemical control, physical control, and biological control.

Part III: Mosquito control in California, surveillance for mosquitoes and mosquitoborne diseases, and public relatilons.

Manual - Category B

This manual is designed to help prepare government agency employees for testing for competence under Category B - Mosquito biology and control.

Manual

Study aids - Category B

These study aids are designed to assist those looking to test themselves in the subject matter found in the latest Category B training manual.

Category C - Invertebrates

Category C includes the identification and control of a variety of arthropods of public health importance, exclusive of mosquitoes. Insects included in this category are domestic flies (house flies and relatives), cockroaches, fleas, lice, bed bugs, biting midges, kissing bugs, and bees and wasps. Other arthopods besides insects that are covered here are ticks, mites, and scorpions.

 

Practice questions - Category C

There are four sets of questions in Category C.  Each set covers subject areas in approximately the same order as they appear in the latest Category C training manual.

 

The subject areas covered are as follows

 

Part I.  Domestic flies (house flies and relatives).

Part II. Cockroaches.

Part III. Fleas, lice, and bedbugs.

Part IV. Spiders, ticks, and mites, and Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, ants, etc.).

 

Manual - Category C

This manual is designed to help prepare government agency employees for testing for competence under Category C - Invertebrates.

Manual

Study aids - Category C

These study aids are designed to assist those looking to test themselves in the subject matter found in the latest Category C training manual.

Category D - Vertebrate animals

Category D includes the biology of vertebrate animals (animals with backbones) and that are associated with public health problems in some way, especially in connection with infectious diseases of people. Domestic and wild rodents fall under this category, with special emphasis on domestic rats and mice, and wild rodents that are associated with hantavirus infections of humans. Other such animals of concern include possums, skunks, squirrels, and poisonous snakes. Methods of control of some of these animals is included, most frequently those animals such as Norway rats and house mice that are closely associated with human habitats.

 

Practice questions - Category D

There are three sets of questions in Category D.  Each set covers subject areas in approximately the same order as they appear in the latest Category D training manual.

 

The subject area covered are as follows:

 

Part I. Biology of domestic rodents and rodent-borne diseases.

Part II. Control of domestic rodents.

Part III. Biology and control of oppossums, skunks, bats, birds, and poisonous snakes.

Manual - Category D

This manual covers vertebrates of public health significance, including domestic rodents such as roof rats and house mice, and also poisonous snakes and vertebrates such as ground squirrels that may serve as resevoirs for human disease pathogens. The manual is designed to help prepare government agency employees for testing for competence under Category C - Vertebrtes.

Manual

Study aids - Category D

These study aids are designed to assist those looking to test themselves in the subject matter found in the latest Category D training manual.

Pesticide usage

 

The state of California requires monthly reporting of agricultural pesticide use. This requirement is enforced by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR). The following explanation of this requirement is extracted from the DPR website:

 

California’s pesticide use reporting program is recognized as the most comprehensive in the world. In 1990, California became the first state to require full reporting of agricultural pesticide use in response to demands for more realistic and comprehensive pesticide use data. Under the program, all agricultural pesticide use must be reported monthly to the county agricultural commissioner, who in turn, reports the data to DPR.

 

California has a broad legal definition of "agricultural use," so the reporting requirements include pesticide applications to parks, golf courses, cemeteries, rangeland, pastures, and along roadside and railroad rights-of-way. In addition, all postharvest pesticide treatments of agricultural commodities must be reported, along with all pesticide treatments in poultry and fish production, as well as some livestock applications. The primary exceptions to the full use reporting
requirements are home and garden use and most industrial and institutional uses.

 

All pesticide applications by California mosquito and vector control agencies are included in this requirement. This requirement is addressed under a memorandum of understanding among the Department Public Health (DPH), the Department of Pesticide Regulation, and the County Agricultural Commissioners (CAC). Under this MOU, CAC agrees to receive monthly pestidide use reports from agencies that establish cooperative agreements with DPH, pursuant to Health and Safety Code 116180 amd 116183,  

Pesticide resistance testing

Pesticide resistance testing and reporting is an important part of surveillance for arthropod vectors and the disease organisms they transmit. Recently, interest has increased on developing a statewide program for resistance testing. Under this program, actual testing of susceptibility of arthropod vectors for various pesticides would be done either by individual mosquito and vector control agencies or by centralized regional laboratories. The Vector-borne Disease Section of the Department of Public Health would coordinate the program, University of California Mosquito Control Laboratory at the Kearney Agriculteral Center would participate by developing and evaluating test protocols, and the UC Center for Vectorborne diseases would participate by developing modern tools for data submission, storage, and analysis.

Other Resources