Article from Pest Control Technology

"Having blanket notification of pesticides when statistics have shown that there's only an extremely small percentage that really want that [notification] only alarms people in the long run," said Harvey Logan, president, Pest Control Operators of California (PCOC), representing over 1,100 PMPs in the state. 

[ Read the Pest Control Letter to Schools ]

 

Subject:   Pest Control Technology Article-----
Date:       Tue, 10 Oct 2000 09:35:41 -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 be interested in an Tuesday, October 3, 2000 industry article entitled: Notification Bill Is Signed In California by PCT's Amanda Paskiet.

SACRAMENTO — Calif. Governor Gray Davis recently signed a bill that requires parents and teachers to be notified any time pesticides are used on school campuses in the state. The bill requires signs to be posted at a spray site 24 hours prior and 72 hours after an application.

Similar to the neighbor notification law passed Aug. 21 in New York, many in the pest management industry feel the bill is unnecessary.

"Having blanket notification of pesticides when statistics have shown that there's only an extremely small percentage that really want that [notification] only alarms people in the long run," said Harvey Logan, president, Pest Control Operators of California (PCOC), representing over 1,100 PMPs in the state.

Logan feels the bill is insufficient because it does not include any training regulations. That legislation, Assembly Bill 786, still sits on Gov. Davis' desk waiting to be signed.

"Probably 85-90 percent of the schools in California are treated by unlicensed individuals who don't know what they're doing," said Logan. "If parents should be alarmed about anything regarding pesticides in schools, that is what they should be alarmed about."

Bill 2260 was initially prompted by the concern that some pesticides are carcinogenic or pose a number of other health risks including respiratory and neurological ailments. Pesticides are frequently scrutinized in the media which infuriates the pest management industry since coverage of their usefulness and importance in society is rare.

"When pesticides are applied properly and when school children aren't present, I certainly don't believe they're harmful," said Logan.

But the more than 70 educational, environmental, health and civic organizations that supported the California bill do believe that pesticides are extremely harmful to the public. Even a spokesman for the American Lung Association commented that, "there are other ways to kill pests that don't cause cancer and aggravate other health problems."

Gene Harrington, manager of government affairs, National Pest Management association (NMPA) said that what organizations such as American Lung Association fail to recognize is that the average person is not going to stand for pest problems and will do what is needed to control them.

"There is a lot of unwarranted concern about pesticides due to the media, but I have yet to see a subsequent acceptance of pests," he said. "I just don't see the average American saying 'I heard this story about pesticides causing cancer…maybe I could live with these cockroaches after all.'"

According to Harrington, "the pest control industry's problem will begin when people decide they want to live with pests, but I don't sense that happening yet."

Well Mr Helliker,  If you continue to make safe and far more effective unregistered alternatives "illegal" for professional use - Californians obviously will have to continue living with not only their cockroaches but, with all of the resulting "registered" POISON "residue" (CONTAMINATION)!  I have safely solved all pest problems inside and outside in over 350 schools without ever using any of your "registered" POISONS.  If the pest "control" industry can/will continue to only use your "registered" POISONS, they never have and they never will control pest problems e.g., cockroaches.

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