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Saturday Educational Forum

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On Saturday, March 11, 2000, I  attended the conference aptly named: SAFE SCHOOLS = SMART SCHOOLS: A Forum to try to improve the learning environment at our schools by reducing some of the environmental hazards.

Penny Newman and the Board Members of Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice in Riverside, California have a lot of which to be proud. The conference drew many educators and administrators into one room, to learn information regarding the environmental hazards facing schools and provide them some resources to try to address the issues.

The keynote speaker for this conference was Felicia Marcus, Regional Administrator for the US-EPA Region IX. She gave me hope that there is a light at the end of the "regulation" tunnel. Coming from an environmental activist background, she may be a new breed of government employee who actually puts the public first. Jean Circiello, the Children’s Health Coordinator from EPA San Francisco office and Barbara Spark, Indoor Air program Coordinator for the EPA, Region 9 from San Francisco also spoke authoritatively and with great compassion about the people they serve and the assistance they offer. All in all, the EPA had one of its finest moments that afternoon with these three women. All were intelligent people who deeply cared about what was happening to the schools and the kids and were working hard to find possible solutions/alternatives.

Matt Matelko a victim of pesticide poisoning spoke about the death of his sister Chrissy Garavito by pesticide poisoning in Fontana, California.

Kirk Murphy, M.D. of the Los Angeles chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility provided the most scientific and compelling reasons why pesticides should be eliminated from all environments. Dr. Murphy discussed the science of the pesticides and chemicals disturbing the hormonal balances and other physical, mental and emotional harm done by pesticides and chemicals in the environment. He drew a mental picture so profound that no one in the room could miss his point. Dr. Murphy stated:

When the EPA/Chemical companies are looking at the "cost/benefit" of any chemical or pesticide what they usually allow or accept is that one particular pesticide active ingredient will only cause one additional death in a million. He went further with that thought, that given the thousands of pesticide active ingredients and other toxic chemicals in our environment that one death in a million becomes thousands of deaths in a million. His conclusion is that the chemical companies are committing "serial murder for profit".

Dr. Murphy noted that the chemical companies produce many thousands of dangerous chemicals/pesticides. 

If each chemical or pesticide poison is predicted or accepted or allowed to cause only one additional death per million people the number of possible poison victims is simply astronomical. 

Dr. Murphy noted that no agency bothers to predict the number of people who also may be seriously injured (cancer, leukemia, brain tumors, MCS, etc.) from exposure to these dangerous poisons. When Dr. Murphy finished, there was an immediate need in my opinion, to eliminate the use of all pesticide poisons, especially in all of our schools!

The last panel to present was to present information on Alternatives to pesticides.  After hearing Matthew weep about his Sister and Dr. Murphy's information on the dangers of pesticides, the attendees were more ready to hear about alternatives to pesticides.

The panel discussion on "alternatives" to these dangerous POISONS featured Lyndon Hawkins, Sr. Research Scientist for the DPR and Bill Currie an "IPM consultant".

Lyndon Hawkins (California DPR’s Senior Research Scientist and head of the IPM program for the state) showed a fly trap and a wasp trap and discussed a little about using them instead of pesticide poisons and turned his time over to William Currie. (So much for any discussion of any real alternatives!)

William Currie (who gets paid as an IPM consultant) assured everyone that IPM required many more years of research, many hours of work and labor, the use of a hired expert and the continued use of pesticide poisons! (Again, so much for any real alternatives!)

Bill Currie wanted to give everyone a quiz. His main questions was "What is IPM?". Well we didn't have to wait long before he provided his answer ". His answer is "IPM is risk reduction". Mr. Currie went to imply that "pests are the enemy not pesticide poisons" (oddly enough that is exactly what the the manufacturers of pesticides say). Mr. Currie was quite specific as he detailed the health risks of allowing pests to run rampant through the schools. He cited an example of roaches and hepatitis. Although providing no medical evidence, he concluded that when the roaches were gone (probably using pesticides) the hepatitis fell dramatically. However, he didn't say anything about the probable increase in asthma from the pesticide poisons or from the decaying roach carcasses or of any of the many other health problems arising from the use of volatile, pesticide poisons. Nor did Mr. Currie bother to mention any alternative pest controls for roaches.

What Bill Currie would not say on Saturday and probably will never say is that IPM can be done safely without the use of any pesticide poisons.  He gestured with his hands showing how small an amount of pesticide poisons he recommends .. hardly any and so small that you wouldn't even know the pesticide poisons was there.  (YEAH RIGHT, check with any chemically sensitive individual or any small child living in the ambient air of these little, small doses of pesticides and re-read Dr. Murphy's statements above.)  I believe that a person with his limited understanding of true IPM and the health risks of all pesticide poisons should not be preaching to schools.

In my opinion, Bill Currie and Lyn Hawkins believe there never will come a time in which all pesticides could or should be eliminated by the use of alternative controls. They only seem able to preach the pesticide industry standards of "IPM" pest control which were best stated by RISE* executive director Allen James: 

"IPM, including the use of specialty pesticides, assures that our children and school personnel can enjoy a safe and healthy academic environment." 

(Note: It is against the federal law to say even the labeled use of any "registered" pesticide poison is "safe". But alternative controls can be and usually are only food grade or GRAS materials.)

DDT was originally touted as being "totally safe", after DDT Chlordane was also sold as being "safe", Dursban is still touted as "safe". All of these "registered" toxins were not banned or severely restricted until enough people and children and/or animals were seriously injured, poisoned, harmed or killed. It is now considered "normal" for most if not all of us to be contaminated with residues from these poisons and/or their metabolites. At what point do WE stop allowing "them" to continue to POISON us and to learn from our past reliance on unsafe pesticide poisons and adopt the precautionary principle and find safe IPM alternatives?

Mr. Currie and Mr. Hawkins simply ignored the fact that hundreds of school maintenance people using only The Best Control are already providing pesticide-free or true IPM pest control for many schools right here in the U.S. Both Mr. Currie and Mr. Hawkins decided to only refer to what can only be described as the pesticide poison industry's view of "IPM". They gave no real pest control alternatives.  They presented a picture of "the bug as the enemy" and relieved themselves of any responsibility for the damage done by pesticides no matter in what "reduced risk" form these POISONS may come in.  In short, a pesticide poison is much better than a bug. (This is just what the chemical industry wants us to believe.)

If the people we are trusting with our children's health and who tout themselves as "IPM" experts or "regulators", obviously don't believe it is possible or "legal" to do pest control without continually using/misusing pesticide poisons --- We are doomed!

I think what bothered me most about the content of the "IPM" portion of the conference is that the parents, teachers and administrators were spending precious time discussing pesticides, keeping the kids safe from pesticides, dealing with the outcome of pesticide poisoning and "reducing the pesticides" because no one tells them that pest control can be done easier and cost effectively without pesticides.  Neither Lyn Hawkins or Bill Currie, the IPM experts, told them and probably will never tell them that pest control can be done without pesticide poisons and that the goal of any IPM program is (and should be) the complete elimination of any volatile, synthetic, pesticide poisons.

I would like to point out that better and far safer pest control can be currently obtained without the use of any dangerous pesticide poisons, but you have to talk to people that have actually removed all pest problems inside and outside without ever using any volatile pesticide poisons. Your Poison applicator or "regulator" may not, obviously, be the best choice of "IPM" provider! If you do not understand my comments, please reread Dr. Kirk Murphy's comments about how these terrible toxins are poisoning and/or killing our children and us! Then look for real alternatives to these dangerous POISONS!

Linda Jensen-Pascarella
Safe2Use

* RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment), the National Pest Control Association (NPCA) and the Professional Lawn Care Association (PLCAA) who paid for all of the printing and mailing for the pamphlet that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now distributes, e.g., "Integrated Pest Management in Schools" and "Pest Control in the School Environment: Adopting Integrated Pest Management" from a cooperative IPM effort with pesticide manufacturers, formulators and professional applicators, e.g., the pest control industry trade group. The EPA material states, "There are, of course, many pest problems that require the use of pesticides. (The people who paid for these "IPM" booklets are the obviously the same people who make money from the continued use/misuse of pesticide poisons.)

IPM should put pesticides at the rear end of the train not the front. I suggest that Mr. Currie look at the latest USDA environmental impact statement for fly control which at least lists the options in the correct order. It may be necessary to use some biological based pesticides like Bt but these should be used selectively and carefully, if at all. The elimination of chemical pesticides that are volatile is the key to reducing exposure to a minimum. If schools only used borates as the only pesticides and re-learned what housekeeping was there would be no roaches. Steve Tvedten will be the Rachel Carson of the 2000s. It will take time but before he dies he will hear that. Good work Steve. 

Dr. Robert Simon

I wonder if we wrote "REAL" IPM pamphlets for schools and had them printed...if the EPA would distribute them with the EPA logo on them for us?

A long shot, but I met a man who wholesales printing services that told me he would help get some things printed for us...Perhaps if we asked EPA??

What a coup if we could pull it off...I can see the name... Real IPM without poisons...

Hugs,

Elizabeth
Protect All Children's Environment
E.M.T. O'Nan
Director
2261 Buck Creek Road
Marion, NC 28752
Phone: (828) 724 4221
Fax: (828) 724 4177
Email: pace@mcdowell.main.nc.us
Web site: http://www.main.nc.us/pace

Linda, you remarked recently in a very negative way about Bill Currie. And I note that you work with Steve Tvedten a lot.

  As someone who respects both of these gentlemen, do you think you are REALLY doing us a favor by writing such incendiary mean stuff about bill Currie?

  Steve is wonderful, I agree.  But to be honest, bill Currie is also, and if we had not used his services as a 501c3 envir. Group who worked with NCAMP in the past, WE WOULD NOT BE CARBAMATE AND OP AND ALL SPRAYS free in Nashville city schools.  All of em.

  Just had to comment that the particular piece you did a week or two ago on the California IPM workshop was offensive to me, and I am the most active pesticide activist in Tennessee, on the same side as Steve Tvedten......

  Bill has impacted our community very positively, and I can go into any Nashville public school now and not get sick, which I used to terribly until we changed our policies to those bill recommended....

  Just a thought, not a hateful one, but a thought of how things might be better expressed.  Otherwise your site looks great to me.

 Nancy McFadden
Nashville TN

REPONSE TO COMMENT:

Nancy,

Thank you for your comments.  I will post them with my article.

 I do have a question:  Did Bill Currie's IPM program in Nashville include any registered synthetic, pesticide poison in any amount (no matter how small)?  We work with a lot of people who have "zero" physical tolerance for the synthetic, pesticide poisons.  If Mr. Currie is as good as you have experienced, then he should be able to do IPM without any pesticide poisons.  Otherwise, he is practicing the IPM method recommended by the pesticide manufacturers.

  Zero synthetic, pesticide poisons should be the goal of any program involving living human beings and especially children.  I work with Steve Tvedten because he, like I, believe there is absolutely no place for a synthetic, pesticide poison in school with the kids.   The difference between Bill and Steve (as far as I've seen and heard) is that Steve can and does IPM without any volatile, synthetic, pesticides poisons.

If Mr. Currie's program involves absolutely no registered, synthetic, pesticide poisons, please correct me and I will publish that also.  If his program does involve registered pesticide poisons then is he REALLY doing anyone a favor?

Again, thank you again for your comments and I look forward to hearing from you.

Linda

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