Updated
Updated · NBC Los Angeles · Jul 9
Ladera Ranch HOA Forms Advisory Committee After 6 Ewing Sarcoma Cases Raise Pesticide Fears
Updated
Updated · NBC Los Angeles · Jul 9

Ladera Ranch HOA Forms Advisory Committee After 6 Ewing Sarcoma Cases Raise Pesticide Fears

1 articles · Updated · NBC Los Angeles · Jul 9

Summary

  • Ladera Ranch Maintenance Corp said it has directed staff to create an ad hoc advisory committee of homeowners, board members, staff and landscape professionals to review landscape maintenance practices.
  • The move follows residents' demands for answers after Brody Matteson died at 17 and five other local children were diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in the community of roughly 20,000 to 30,000 people.
  • Families want more disclosure on the type and amount of pesticides used and are pressing for safer, more organic pest management, though attorneys and health officials say no direct causal link has been established.
  • Orange County health officials said an initial review found no clear cancer pattern but plan another review in coming weeks, while the HOA said regulators have not tied its practices to the illnesses.

Insights

A rare cancer is striking children in a California suburb. Could common lawn pesticides be the hidden cause?
California's pesticide rules are the nation's strictest, so why do families blame them for a tragic child cancer cluster?