Community Health Tips

If you believe you have been exposed to a pesticide or you are experiencing symptoms, please call 911.

For free, first aid advice, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.

For information on specific health-impacts from a pesticide, visit the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) website, access their LiveChat option or contact them by phone (1-800-858-7378) or email (npic@oregonstate.edu).

Find information on:
  1. Reducing potential pesticide exposure
  2. Pesticide specific health and safety information
  3. Symptoms of pesticide exposure
  4. Reporting pesticide incidents
  5. Pesticide safety at home and work
  6. Pesticide safety for farmworkers
  7. How pesticides are regulated in California

Reducing potential pesticide exposure

To maintain your safety and the safety of others, never approach any suspected pesticide application or other agricultural operation, stay away from equipment or machinery that may be applying pesticides and follow any posted warning signs in or around fields where pesticides are being applied.

If a pesticide application is happening near you and you want to take additional steps to reduce potential exposure, here are some things you can do:

  • Keep doors and windows closed during pesticide applications
  • Keep children and pets inside and avoid outdoor activities if possible when pesticides are being applied
  • Bring in children’s toys prior to the pesticide application and wash toys that are left outside on a regular basis
  • Bring in laundry from outdoor clotheslines prior to the pesticide application
  • Clean blinds and windowsills with a damp cloth on a regular basis
  • Clean floors on a regular basis, use door mats, and remove shoes inside your home
  • If available to you, consider replacing air filters or indoor air filtration systems or make your own air purifier

Pesticide specific health and safety information

The following fact sheets provide information from the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) on specific restricted material pesticides, including potential routes of exposure and common symptoms:


For additional information specific to a pesticide active ingredient, visit the Department’s website.

For health and safety information about a specific restricted material pesticide or active ingredient, including potential sources of exposure, common symptoms, and other potential risks and impacts, visit the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) website, access their LiveChat option or contact them by phone (1-800-858-7378) or email (npic@oregonstate.edu).

NPIC also develops fact sheets (available in English) on some of the restricted material pesticides used in California including:

Symptoms of pesticide exposure

Call 911 Immediately if you:

  • Feel weak or unable to walk
  • Feel discomfort in your chest
  • Have pinpoint pupils
  • Foam at the mouth and nose
  • Have problems breathing
  • Lose consciousness

Other possible symptoms from pesticide exposure, include:

  • Flu-like symptoms (tiredness, headache, or dizziness)
  • Blurred vision
  • Stuffy nose, sore throat, or coughing
  • Eye, nose, or skin irritation
  • Excessive sweating
  • Vomiting, diarrhea, or stomach cramps
  • Nervousness, confusion, loss of coordination

Reporting Pesticide Incidents

Please report any suspected pesticide illnesses or incidents as soon as possible so that the county agricultural commissioners can investigate.

Report By Phone: 1-87PestLine (1-877-378-5463) to connect to your local County Agricultural Commissioner to make a report. You can ask to make the report anonymously or to keep your name confidential. Find your County Agricultural Commissioner’s phone line and contact information to make a report directly.

Find your county contact information: County Info | CACASA

Learn more by watching this video How to Report a Pesticide Incident (English, Spanish)

Additional resources:

You can request an interpreter during a field inspections or investigative interviews, when you call the County Agricultural Commissioner’s office (1-877-378-5463), or if you visit their office in person.

Pesticide safety at home and work

Pesticides are commonly used in homes and workplaces and include sanitizers, cleaners and other household and garden products. If you work on a farm, you may also be working near agricultural pesticide applications. Below are some best practices to reduce potential exposure to pesticides in your everyday life.

  • Review the product label before using a pesticide and follow the directions exactly.
  • Never put pesticides in food or drink containers and never take farm pesticides or their containers home.
  • Keep pesticides and other harmful products in a cabinet, out of children’s reach.
  • If you work near pesticides, wear clothes with long sleeves and long pants, shoes or boots, socks, a hat and/or scarf, and gloves or as otherwise specified on the product label.
  • If you work near pesticides, do not mix clothes that have pesticide residues with other clothes. You must wash them separately.

Remember: The instructions on the pesticide label are there to protect human health and the environment. The label is the law and must be followed by both individuals and commercial users.

The Department of Pesticide Regulation, sometimes referred to as DPR, actively enforces these laws, working with counties and their agricultural commissioners to ensure regulations are followed.

Pesticide safety for farmworkers

Here are five important tips for farmworkers to reduce potential exposure to pesticides:

  • Wear clothes with long sleeves and long pants, shoes or boots, socks, a hat and/or scarf, and gloves or as otherwise specified on the product label.
  • Always wash your hands before eating, drinking, smoking, chewing gum, using your phone, or going to the bathroom.
  • Do not mix clothes that have pesticide residues with other clothes. You must wash them separately.
  • Take a shower or bath as soon as you get home from work and before any contact with children or family.
  • Never put pesticides in food or drink containers and never take farm pesticides or their containers home.

Department of Pesticide Regulation conducts outreach to provide pesticide workers, farmworkers and local communities pesticide safety information. More resources on pesticide safety can be found on DPR’s website at www.cdpr.ca.gov.

How pesticides are regulated in California

California regulates the use of all pesticides to protect people and the environment from potential pesticide exposure.

Pesticides are used every day to kill germs, insects, rats, and other pests that carry disease and illness and to protect crops. However, exposure to pesticides carries risks to people and the environment.

The Department of Pesticide Regulation evaluates all pesticides and requires all pesticides to be registered before they can be sold or used in California. The Department of Pesticide Regulation continuously reviews new science, illness reports, and other data and information to inform new laws and regulations that decrease potential risks to people or the environment from pesticide use.

Department of Pesticide Regulation develops restrictions on how and where pesticides are applied and who can apply them. The Department of Pesticide Regulation works together with county agricultural commissioners to make sure these restrictions are followed. Examples of the Department of Pesticide Regulation’s work include:

  • Requiring licenses and training for those who apply pesticides
  • Setting distance requirements between where pesticides are applied and places where people may be, such as homes, schools and businesses
  • Restricting how much of a pesticide can be used and what the pesticide can be used on
  • Requiring that pesticides are applied in ways that prevent the pesticide from leaving the intended area
  • Testing fruits and vegetables sold at the market or grocery store for pesticide residue

For more information visit www.cdpr.ca.gov.