Congress considering schools' use of pesticides
Subject: Congress considering schools' use of pesticides..................
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 10:57:54 -0500
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 Regulationcc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read the following article:
Health & Science: Congress considering schools' use of pesticides http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/181962p-1758110c.html
[Please visit the original website to view the whole article. - Mod.]
Copyright © 2001 Scripps Howard News Service
By JOAN LOWY, Scripps Howard News Service
(November 28, 2001 10:09 a.m. EST) - Veronika Carella's two daughters were in good health before they began attending their local elementary school in Glenwood, Md., in the mid-1990s. That's when the health of both girls started to deteriorate, the youngest oozing fluids from her skin.
Eventually, the girls were diagnosed as suffering from pesticide poisoning, Carella said. School authorities had been spraying the building once a month with Dursban, the most popular-selling home and garden pesticide in the nation. Energy conservation features in the design of the school building had resulted in poor ventilation, over-exposing children to the chemical, she said.
Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency banned the sale of Dursban for most home and garden use as well as some agricultural uses after determining that it was dangerous, especially to children.
...
Carella and her daughters are part of a growing national debate over pesticide use in schools that has spilled over into Congress. The House and Senate are at loggerheads over a proposal that would require schools to adopt policies promoting the use of non-chemical or less toxic responses to pest problems such as sealing cracks and using baits and gels instead of sprays.
The measure, which was added by the Senate to a larger elementary and secondary education funding bill, also would require schools to establish a registry of parents who wish to be notified in advance of pesticide applications. Classrooms and other school areas would have to be clear of children for at least 24 hours after pesticides are applied.
...
The proposal picked up the support of the pesticide industry after its sponsors agreed to a compromise that dropped a ban against school use of specific pesticides believed to be the most dangerous to children.
However, the National School Boards Association and the American Association of School Administrators contend the measure would impose burdensome and costly requirements on school officials without supplying any funding.
"It takes staff time to do a mailing, it takes staff time to field phone calls, it takes staff time to notify people within 24 hours (of a pesticide application)," said Mary Conk, a lobbyist for the American Association of School Administrators, which represents 14,000 school superintendents.
...
House Republican leaders have sided with school officials and are vowing to kill the measure. A decision is expected in the next few weeks.
Rep. Rob Andrews, D-N.J., a supporter of the measure, said the experiences of dozens of states and localities that have adopted similar parental notification requirements or management plans for pesticide use show that concerns about cost are overblown.
Well Mr. Helliker, I can guarantee you that my safe and far more effective (unregistered) alternatives are also less expensive and do not require any notification. When will they be "legal" to use any of them in California?
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
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