Statement of Senator Joe Lieberman on Pesticide Use in Schools

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Subject:          Senator Joe Lieberman's Statement-------
 Date:              Thu, 06 Jan 2000 18:03:14 -0500
From:             Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Lyndon Hawkins <hawkins@empm.cdpr.ca.gov>
          State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
          Integrated Pest Management

Lyndon, Senator Lieberman's statement made 12/22/99 can be found at:
http://www.senate.gov/member/ct/lieberman/general/r010400b.html

Statement of Senator Joe Lieberman on Pesticide Use in Schools
 

    January 4, 2000 Few issues are of more concern to the American people, particularly American parents, than school safety. And to no ones surprise, most of our attention has, in the wake of Columbine, focused on the ominous and tangible threat of violence.

    We are here today to talk about a less visible and less vicious threat to our childrens well-being, but a serious one nonetheless the use of pesticides in our schools. I am honored to be joined one of the nations leading experts on this subject, Jay Feldman, Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Misuse of Pesticides. We were also to be joined by Dr. John Wargo, Associate Professor of Environmental Risk Analysis and Policy at Yale University and Director of the Center for Childrens Environmental Health Policy, but Dr. Wargo unfortunately fell ill and will not be able to attend.

    Much of the public is familiar to some degree with the dangers associated with pesticide exposure, but few are probably aware that these potentially harmful chemicals are routinely sprayed on school grounds and even inside classrooms. In fact, I was unaware myself until I came across a survey done by a non-profit group in my home state called Environment and Human Health, which discovered widespread use of pesticides in Connecticuts public schools.

    Why is this such a problem? One reason is that children are particularly vulnerable to the health effects of pesticide exposure, because of their smaller size, greater intake of food and  air relative to body weight, recreational environment, and developing physical and mental systems. Numerous studies document that children who suffer chronic or acute exposure to pesticides experience elevated rates of childhood leukemia, soft tissue sarcoma, and brain cancer. Another reason is that pesticides can easily be absorbed from exposure through skin contact, inhalation, or ingestion. One recent study showed that after a single broadcast  application in an indoor setting of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide commonly used in schools, the chemical remained on childrens toys and hard surfaces for two weeks, resulting in exposure 21 to 119 times above the current recommended safe dose.

    The driving force behind the Connecticut study, EEH President Nancy Alderman, was so effective in publicizing her findings that she persuaded the state legislature to pass a law requiring school districts to develop a registry of parents who want to be notified when pesticides will be applied. Nancys efforts also persuaded me of the need to study this problem in more depth. So in my capacity as ranking member of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, I asked the General Accounting Office to conduct a national review,  and to report back on the extent to which pesticides are used in and around the nations 110,000 public schools and the magnitude of the risk of exposure to our children.

    We are formally releasing that report today, and I can sum up its findings simply by saying that in this case, what we dont know can indeed hurt us, and may in fact be hurting us today, because there is a lot we dont know. Most notably, the GAOs investigators learned that no one seems to have the information I requested, leaving us ill-prepared to assess this threat, much less protect children from it.

    Specifically, the GAO found that:

    1)     There is no comprehensive, readily-available national or state-by-state data on the amount and kinds of pesticides being used in schools today.

    2)     Although the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) requires pest-control companies to keep records for two years on the amount and site of pesticide applications, only one state requires them to report the information.

    3)     There is little information available about illnesses related to pesticide exposure. The GAO documented 2,300 cases of exposure at schools from 1993 to 1996, but noted that this information is incomplete and unreliable because of the lack of record-keeping, and therefore likely understates how often children are exposed. In addition, of those 2,300 cases, we do know not know the outcomes in 1,000 of them, or more than 40 percent. For the cases where follow-up did occur, 329 individuals were seen at health care facilities, 15 were hospitalized, and 4 were treated in intensive care units.

    4)     Eight states collect information on the use of pesticides within their states, but only two collect information on pesticides used in schools. No state collects information on exposure patterns in schools.

    5)     There are no standard criteria for clearly identifying illnesses linked to pesticide exposure; misclassification of pesticide illness is common.

    This information gap is troubling on a number of levels. We know that children are particularly vulnerable to the health risks associated with pesticides. So we have every right to be concerned, and every incentive to take some action. But we dont know how great that risk is, because we dont have any idea how many kids are coming in contact with these chemicals, or how many are suffering as a result. So its hard to determine the exact extent of the problem or the proper response.

    To begin filling in those blanks, today I am calling on EPA Administrator Carol Browner to use her existing authority to begin collecting and reviewing data on school exposures and to develop a plan for a comprehensive survey on the use of pesticides in schools to better gauge the threat to students and educators. In the meantime, I am also urging the EPA to take several more immediate steps to minimize the risk of exposure -- starting by providing guidance to pest control companies and school officials on the relative risks of different application methods, and setting strong uniform guidelines for notifying parents and educators before pesticides are used on school grounds.

    Also, because the GAO report highlights the importance of Integrated Pest Management Programs as an alternative to heavy pesticide use in schools, I am going to cosponsor Senator Torricellis legislation, the School Environment Protection Act of 1999. This bill creates a national requirement that the safest methods of pest control are used in school buildings and on school grounds to protect children. It wont eliminate the threat, but it will certainly help.

    What stands out most to me in reading the GAO report is the perspective it provides. I was struck by the fact that while we have a national framework in place for protecting workers from environmental and health hazards on the job, we have no such system for protecting children from toxic substances in the classroom. You dont have to be an A student to know that that is a double standard, one that deserves our attention. I am hopeful that this report will begin to do just that, and as a result, we can soon send our kids to school confident they will be in a safe and healthy environment.

Well Lyndon, the future of true IPM will come with or without you.

Respectfully,  Stephen L, Tvedten.
 
 
 

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