Why is asthma on the rise in Oxnard schools

Expansion of schools into ag belt brings perceived risk of exposure to toxic pesticides.

[ Pesticide Poisoning and Kids ] * [ Symptoms of Pesticide Poisoning ]
[ MEMORIAL TO VICTIMS ]

Subject:   LA TIMES March 22, 2000 - Respiratory Illness---
Date:       Fri, 24 Mar 2000 09:23:29 -0500
From:        Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

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

Lyndon, I thought you might like to read a recent article entitled: News from Ventura in the Times Community Newspapers - Why is asthma on the rise in Oxnard schools? Expansion of schools into ag belt brings perceived risk of exposure to toxic pesticides. By NANCY FORREST.

OXNARD -- The growing ranks of students complaining of asthmatic symptoms has prompted school officials here to do some studies of its own. The district's Board of Education last week unanimously agreed to hire physician Chris Landon to find out why so many students here are plagued by wheezing, coughing, difficulty breathing and a sense of suffocation.

As part of the study, Landon, of Landon Pediatrics, will use pulmonary function tests on students each month.

The lung tests will be taken at school, within 48 hours of scheduled pesticide applications. School officials suspect that the pesticides could be the root of the seemingly rampant asthmatic incidents.

"Ventura County schools have been a community focal point for pesticide exposure concerns," Landon said. "The intersection of the agriculture industry, which supplies the underpinnings to the Ventura County economy, and the expansion of schools into the agriculture belt have resulted in a perceived risk of toxic exposure to pesticides."

Landon said his project will gather the resources of the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the county Health Care Agency, School District and Agriculture Commissioner to provide access to pesticide-exposure information. He hopes to expand health tests to students with asthma or at risk of pesticide exposure.

The project will collect hospital information related to respiratory illness and pesticide exposure and relate it to times of pesticide spraying, Landon said.

District Supt. Richard Duarte supports the study.

"Like most large cities, we deal with hydrocarbon and smog issues," Duarte said. "But there are a lot of unknowns. We've seen an increase in the cases of asthma, even over last year, and we want to see if those increased incidents are related to changes in environment."

The Landon study will track some students at every school site to identify the causes of increased cases of asthma among Oxnard students. The study will only track students whose parents have consented.

"We want to track every asthma episode and determine why it occurs," Duarte said.

The school district has been working closely with the county American Lung Assn. to improve the district's efforts on behalf of children with asthma, he said.

Marina West Elementary School is the only district school that has an ALA-sponsored Open Airways Program, which teaches children with chronic, moderate-to-severe asthma how to better manage their asthma.

"We will target 100 children who have participated in the Open Airways Program from throughout the county to provide a control population," Landon said. "Asthma exacerbations may also be due to epidemic upper-respiratory illness seen through the school system and age range, pollen and due to other sources of air pollution."

Duarte said the district plans to expand its Open Airways program to several school campuses next year if the district budget permits. He said the district maintains medical equipment, such as asthma inhalers, at individual school sites to help children with asthma better regulate breathing during an asthma episode.

"California has the potential for the world's strictest regulations for methyl bromide, which when completed, will greatly reduce potential health risks," Landon said. "It is necessary to establish pesticide illness training for professionals and to rigorously examine the health effects which may or may not be present."

The finished report will be distributed through the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the Landon Pediatric Foundation.

Well Lyndon, It would not be necessary to establish "registered" pesticide illness training for professionals, or study "registered" pesticide POISON related asthmatic symptoms - if you would "legally" allow the use of safe and far more effective alternatives to control pest problems in California.

Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten

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(Editor's Note:  I personally attended a meeting in Ventura where teachers, parents and students graphically described the rise of asthma (along with cancer and leukemia).  One school went from 1 asthmatic student to 40% of the students having some level of asthma in 7 years.  That was the same time period that the field next door went to strawberries and began spraying pesticides on the ground and in the air with helicopters. 

The DPR's response to those present was that it is the school's fault for building near fields.  They were, however, going to study the matter.  Does it really take a rocket scientist to see this connection?)

 

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