School District Use of Pesticides Endangers Students Health

By Cheryl Holzmeyer, Healthy Schools Campai

Many people don't know that pesticides are routinely used in schools to control pests ranging from weeds to ants to rats. If parents do know pesticides are used, they might assume they are safe, or they wouldn't be used around children. Pesticides are designed to kill living things, however, and are inherently dangerous--even when legal and used according to label directions.

Currently, the district's policy does not prevent high-hazard pesticides from being used in or around school buildings, or on school grounds. Instead, the policy uses general language about pest prevention and "common sense [pest management] strategies." It does not include any health-based criteria for pest management decisions, or ensure that high hazard pesticides are not used. The Toxics Coalition found that four of the indoor pesticides used by the district in 1999 are recognized neurotoxins, and two are linked to cancer.

There is no reason to risk exposing children to these pesticides when there are least-toxic pest management alternatives that work. Childhood leukemia and brain cancer, which make up 50 percent of all childhood cancers, have both been linked to pesticide exposure. Many other serious problems have also been linked to pesticides, including birth defects and impaired brain function.

In addition, children are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of pesticides than adults because their body systems are still developing, and due to behaviors that increase their exposure--such as playing on the ground, exploratory behavior and putting objects in their mouths. Children consume more food and water and breathe more air per unit of body weight than adults, further increasing their exposure to environmental pollution. Since children spend so much of their time each week at school, it is especially important that schools have high environmental health standards.

In failing to address these concerns, the Seattle school district's current pest management policy fails to protect students' health. The policy allows the district to continue using pesticides linked to serious health problems, without any framework for phasing out these high-hazard pesticides. Moreover, the policy includes no guidelines to ensure that when new pesticides are chosen they are the least-toxic ones available. In fact, two of the five high-hazard pesticides used by the district in 1999 were new products.

The good news is that the district has made progress in reducing its herbicide use: from 57 to 99 percent in the past 3 years. The district should be applauded for these reductions, which show that the district can find ways to improve its pest management practices when it takes the initiative.

The district should adopt a strong policy that protects children's health by putting in place clear health and environmental safeguards. Such a policy should include the following provisions:

1. High-hazard pesticides linked to cancer, nervous system harm, endocrine disruption, or reproductive damage will not be used. Preventive and alternative pest controls will be used first, and pesticides (including fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and rodenticides) should be used only as a last resort. If pesticides are used, they will be the least toxic ones available.

2. Pesticides will be used only if a pest presents a health or safety hazard, and never for strictly aesthetic reasons.

3. Parents, teachers, and students will be notified at least 48 hours prior to pesticide applications, both in writing and posting at the site.

The harmful effects of pesticides are often cumulative and may not appear for many years, which may be one reason school safety policies often address guns and physical violence, but not pesticides and environmental health. To protect children's health today and in the future, now is the time for the Seattle school district to act to ensure the safest possible learning environment for children--an environment free of high-hazard pesticides.

The Washington Toxics Coalition is a non-profit, membership-based organization dedicated to protecting health by preventing pollution in industry, agriculture, schools and the home.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Contact school board members--ask them to end the use of high-hazard pesticides in the Seattle school district.

Mail letters to school board members at: 815 4th Avenue North, Mail Stop AA-010, Seattle, WA 98109.

Or call (206) 298-7040.

FOR MORE INFO

For more information on pesticide use by the Seattle school district, or to learn more about WTC's Healthy Schools Campaign, check out the WTC's Web site at www.watoxics.org.

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