Survey Shows State Laws Do Not Protect Children from Pesticides Used in Schools, Federal Government Still Has Not Acted.
Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP) concludes that children in danger from daily pesticide use in schools across the nation.
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Subject: Survey Shows State Laws Do Not Protect Children
from"Registered" Pesticides Used in Schools
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 2000 16:31:26 -0400
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read the
following PRESS RELEASE from Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the
Misuse of Pesticides 701 E Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003 - 202-543-5450
(voice) - 202-543-4791 (fax) info@beyondpesticides.org -
www.beyondpesticides.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kagan Owens or Jay Feldman
202-543-5450
Survey Shows State Laws Do Not Protect Children from
Pesticides Used in Schools, Federal Government Still Has Not Acted.
In a new report, The Schooling of State Pesticides – 2000, Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP) concludes that children in danger from daily pesticide use in schools across the nation. Of the 31 states that offer protection in one or more of five categories covering critical areas of protection, only 20 states address indoor use of pesticides, according to the report. Overall the level of protection varies widely across the states, emphasizing the need for the federal government to act. But almost two years since Beyond Pesticides/NCAMP issued its first report on school use of pesticides and called on the federal government to institute national standards of protection, children continue to be exposed without adequate protection.
Washington, DC, October 3, 2000 – Children are
inadequately protected from pesticides used in schools, according to a study
released by Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of
Pesticides (NCAMP). The study, The Schooling of State Pesticide Laws – 2000,
evaluates the laws of the 50 states and finds that 31 offer a limited and
unsatisfactory level of protection. Based on Beyond Pesticides/NCAMP’s 1998
report and survey of state laws, the organization wrote to EPA requesting that
it consider rulemaking to protect children from pesticide use in schools. Today,
almost two years since the request was made, the evidence of EPA taking action
to reduce exposure to children while at school is not any more clear.
Beyond Pesticides/NCAMP first surveyed state pesticide laws
regarding pesticide use in schools and states that have passed laws attempting
to curtail potentially dangerous exposure in the first edition of the report,
The Schooling of State Pesticide Laws (1998). Since the first publication of the
report, six states have passed laws that further strengthen their existing laws
regarding this issue and two states, for the first time, pass legislation to
attempt to protect children while at school. Of the 31 states that offer
protection in one or more of the following categories, only 20 states address
indoor use of pesticides. Although there continues to be growing movement on
this issue, pesticide use policies and practices remain deficient in the
protection of children and the protection provided children is uneven and
inadequate across the country. No state has acted in every category and where
steps have been taken, they are often much too limited.
Five categories are evaluated in the study: (i) restricted
spray (buffer) zones around schools to prevent drifting of chemicals on to
school property; (ii) posting warning signs for indoor and outdoor pesticide
applications; (iii) prior written notification of pesticide use to parents and
school staff; (iv) prohibiting when and where pesticides can be applied at
schools; and, (v) integrated pest management.
“These state laws are instrumental in improving
protections from school pesticide use,” states Jay Feldman, co-author and
executive director of Beyond Pesticides/NCAMP.
“However, to the extent that these laws do not prohibit the use of
toxic pesticides around children and do not treat pesticide exposure as a public
health issue by providing universal prior notification of pesticide use, they
all to some degree compromise the protection of children. It is time for the
federal government to step up to the plate and institute national standards”
“In regards to this issue, EPA states that they are
encouraging schools use IPM,” said Kagan Owens, co-author and program director
for Beyond Pesticides/NCAMP. “But this is not enough to protect all children
throughout the nation from pesticides used in schools. EPA needs to actively
take a role in protecting children from pesticide exposures.”
Study Findings
- Six states recognize the importance of controlling drift by restricting pesticide applications in areas neighboring a school. - Twelve states require posting of signs for indoor school pesticide applications. Posted notification signs warn those in the school when and where pesticides have been or are being applied.
- Twenty-two states require posting of signs for pesticide applications made on school grounds. Only, nine states require posting for both indoor and outdoor pesticide applications at schools.
- Fifteen states have requirements to notify students, parents, and/or staff before a pesticide application occurs. Six states have provisions for universal notification. Thirteen states have provisions requiring schools to inform parents and guardians of their right to be listed on a registry. The authors view registries as a less effective notification method because they may eliminate individuals who do not know about toxic exposure.
- Nine states restrict when and what pesticides may be applied in schools. These prohibitions on use are important in reducing pesticide exposure.
- A strong integrated pest management (IPM) program can
eliminate the unnecessary use of toxic pesticides, thereby protecting children.
Thirteen states define, recommend or require IPM in their state pesticide laws.
Children are at high risk to the adverse effects associated
with pesticide exposure. Studies are numerous which document that children
exposed to pesticides suffer elevated rates of childhood leukemia, soft tissue
sarcoma and brain cancer. Studies link pesticide exposure to the alarming
childhood asthma rate and respiratory problems. Because of their affect on the
central nervous system, scientists increasingly are associating learning
disabilities or attention deficit disorders with low-level toxic chemical
exposure.
The National Academy of Sciences, in its 1993 report
Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, recognized the increased
vulnerability of children to pesticide exposure. The Food Quality Protection
Act, passed in 1996 may result in additional restrictions on some pesticides to
which children are now exposed in the schools. However, these changes are not
focused on the five critical categories that are needed to stop children’s
involuntary exposure at school to toxic pesticides across the board. If the
government were to institute these protection, it would no longer have to point
to a lengthy pesticide registration and reregistration process, with often
mostly incomplete data on children, as evidence of some possible future
protection. Beyond Pesticides/NCAMP requests rulemaking that would offer
comprehensive protection for children in the near term.
Well Mr. Helliker, you can either protect the children
or the POISON "industry" profits - but, you can not do both.
When will it be "legal' (in your opinion) to use safe and far more
effective (unregistered) alternatives to actually control pest problems in
California?
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
TOP
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