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POISONED PROFITS
THE TOXIC ASSAULT ON OUR CHILDREN
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PLANS TO RESTRICT CHILDREN'S
EXPOSURE TO PESTICIDES
— While over
4,500 school districts in 28 states, or 26.6% of 17,000
school districts nationwide, impose requirements that their
schools adopt methods to reduce children's exposure to
pesticides, the vast majority of school children go
unprotected, according to a new study released by Beyond
Pesticides today. Despite federal government efforts that
urge the voluntary adoption of such measures, the study
finds that voluntary, as opposed to mandatory, state
programs, have failed across the board.
A new study,
published by Beyond Pesticides in the latest issue of the
quarterly newsmagazine Pesticides and You, finds that
without protective federal or state law, the vast majority
of school districts are unlikely to voluntarily adopt safer
school pest management and pesticide policies and that state
laws that only recommend their adoption are ineffective.
The study,
Are Schools Making the Grade? School districts nationwide
adopt safer pest management policies, documents the 10,108
school districts in 37 states that have taken some action to
protect children from school pests and pesticide use by
adopting state and local polices that require safer school
pest management practices. The survey results show that 59%
of the 17,000 school districts in the United States, have
adopted policies requiring one or more of the following
components: (i) establish an integrated pest management (IPM)
program; (ii) provide prior written notification of a
pesticide application; (iii) post pesticide use notification
signs; and, (iv) prohibit certain toxic pesticide
applications.
Voluntary
adoption and state and federal recommendations to adopt
safer policies do little to get schools on the right track,
according to Are Schools Making the Grade? Of the 59% of
school districts required to have such policies, only 367
school districts and 16 individual schools have voluntarily
adopted policies that go beyond their state requirements.
The state of
Indiana serves as an exception to this finding, where 253
out of 289 school districts, or 88%, have voluntarily
adopted a policy that includes IPM and prior notification of
pesticide use. In this instance, the threat of a state law
proved to be highly effective in pushing school districts to
adopt such pest management strategies. In 2001, the Indiana
legislature decided that legislation would be put on hold
pending adequate voluntary adoption by schools. A model
policy, developed by the Indiana Pesticide Review Board with
the input of child advocacy groups and school IPM experts
and approved by the Indiana School Board Association,
continues to be adopted across the state. Unfortunately, 12
percent of school districts are not protected in the state.
Of the
approximately 17,000 school districts around the country:
- 26.6% are required to have an IPM policy;
- 43.1% are required to provide prior written notification
of pesticide use;
- 56.7% are required to post pesticide use notification
signs for either indoor or outdoor applications; and,
- 18.9% have restrictions on certain pesticides.
“While it
is reassuring to see so many schools adopt safer pest
management policies,” stated Kagan Owens, co-author of the
study and program director at Beyond Pesticides, “we are
concerned about the number of children that are not
protected by a state or local policy and are unknowingly
exposed to the unnecessary use of pesticides. Even within
those states and school districts that have adopted a
policy, there are still large gaps within existing programs
where children go without adequate protection.”
“Considering
the amount of resources developed by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency and state Departments of Agriculture and
state university extension offices, it is surprising that
more school districts are not voluntarily adopting such
measures,” stated Owens. “This shows that while the U.S.
EPA recommends all the nation’s schools adopt safer
practices, a simple recommendation does little to get
schools to actually implement these strategies. State and
federal legislation is needed now more than ever to protect
children and facilitate schools adopt effective pest
management strategies that do not rely on hazardous
pesticides.”
“While
schools are held to the highest academic standards possible,
schools falter with regard to enforcing the highest possible
safety standards,” stated Cortney Piper, co-author of the
study. “Academic excellence cannot be expected if children
are not provided an environment that grants them the ability
to grow physically.”
IPM is a
program of prevention, monitoring and control which offers
the opportunity to eliminate or drastically reduce
pesticides at schools, and to minimize the toxicity of and
exposure to any products which are used. The schools
highlighted in the study prove that pests can be managed
effectively and economically without toxic pesticides
through the implementation of a clearly defined IPM program.
The study,
published in the latest issue of Beyond Pesticides’
quarterly newsmagazine, Pesticides and You (volume 22, no.
3), does not evaluate whether these policies are
implementing these policies. The findings of the study are
based on Beyond Pesticides’ review of all state pesticide
laws and local school district policies and programs that go
beyond their state law. The information on school
districts’ policies was obtained from a survey of Beyond
Pesticides’ network of activists, policy makers, PTA’s,
state extension agents, pest management companies, and
school administrators. Beyond Pesticides publicizes school
pesticide policies to educate the public on these critical
issues.
According to
the National Academy of Sciences, children are among the
least protected population group when it comes to pesticide
exposure and that EPA generally lacks the data on children
that is necessary to fully protect them. Pesticide exposure
reports show that pesticides can be harmful to people even
when used according to label directions.
Without a federal law regulating school pesticide use, such
as the pending School Environment Protect Act, it is up to
states and local school districts to provide children the
protection they need from hazardous chemical exposure while
at school.
According to
Beyond Pesticides’ The Schooling of State Pesticide Laws
-2002 Update, thirty-three states have taken some action to
step in and provide protective action to address pesticide
use in, around or near their schools. These include a
mixture of pesticide restrictions and pesticide use
notification. Because state protection is uneven across the
country, many local school districts have adopted similar,
and sometimes more restrictive, pest management polices.
Monday, January 06, 2003
Program Director
Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of
Pesticides
202-543-5450
kowens@beyondpesticides.org
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