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SACRAMENTO, September 30, 2026 - The California Department of Food and Agriculture's (CDFA) Center for Analytical Chemistry (CAC) has notified the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) that it is recalling and voiding all testing results for three volatile organic compounds (VOCs) - Methyl Bromide, Cis-1,3-Dichloropropene, and Trans-1,3-Dichloropropene - provided to DPR's Air Program from October 24, 2025, through June 30, 2026. CDFA is recalling and voiding all results due to a faulty cylinder resulting in the significant degradation in the original laboratory standard used during this period of testing.
In July 2026, CAC, an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory facility, became aware that the results for these VOCs may have been compromised. CAC immediately launched an investigation and identified that the VOCs from the laboratory reference standard were substantially lower than the concentrations certified by the manufacturer, incorrectly resulting in over reporting of the VOCs. The lab standard was tested on July 24, 2026, and showed degradation levels of between 18 and 96 percent.
CAC attempted to apply corrective measures to reconstruct the lab standard, but these resulting measures do not meet the level of scientific and quantitative certainty required. The lab has determined that the only appropriate course of action is to recall and void all data analyzed from October 24, 2025, to June 30, 2026, when the faulty standard cylinder was used.
CAC fully recognizes voiding this volume of data will have significant ramifications for both DPR's Air Program and for California as a whole. However, recalling and voiding this data is the only responsible course of action given the extent of degradation observed.
To reduce the likelihood of any similar issue arising in the future, DPR and CAC have agreed and begun implementing additional improvements to strengthen confidence in subsequent analyses and results. These include the use of blind spike samples and the adoption of two independently sourced standards. CDFA and CAC are committed to evaluating and incorporating additional measures to mitigate the risk of future data being compromised.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture memo can be found here.
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation's statement can be found here.
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