Ladera Ranch Pauses Use of Certain Landscape Chemicals Amid Pediatric Cancer Concerns
The homeowners' association in Ladera Ranch, California, has halted routine applications of specific weed-control and plant-growth chemicals while a federal agency reviews possible links to a series of childhood Ewing sarcoma cases.
The Ladera Ranch Maintenance Corporation (LARMAC) announced a 60-day suspension of routine landscape chemicals used for weed management and plant growth regulation in the community’s common areas. The pause does not affect pest-control measures required for public health, such as rodent control or responses to invasive species.
LARMAC formed an Ad Hoc Landscape Pest Management Advisory Committee, comprising homeowners and board members, to assess the current program and improve resident notifications about maintenance work.
The decision follows a request from First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate whether environmental factors might be contributing to a series of Ewing sarcoma diagnoses among children in the master-planned community dating back to 2013. > "My office has been made aware of recent reports of multiple pediatric Ewing sarcoma cases within the Ladera Ranch community," Essayli wrote in a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. "Residents are raising concerns about a potential cancer cluster and whether environmental factors may warrant further evaluation."
Parents have long questioned the extensive use of pesticides and herbicides across the roughly 4,000-acre development, though no direct link between the chemicals and the cancers has been established. The EPA investigation will determine if any federal environmental regulations have been violated.