E-M:/ Pesticides in Our Schools

[Bethany Renfer <elansingcwa@cleanwater.org>]

Pesticides in Our Schools – Michigan and
Everywhere

Leaders from environmental and health organizations target pesticide use
in
schools as an invisible threat in a new report, Poisoned Schools:
Invisible
Threats, Visible Actions. 

Children across America are being exposed to hazardous environmental
chemicals everyday. In schools, where families trust their children are
safe and being protected from harm, children are being exposed to
chemical poisons. “Children are not just small adults. They ingest 5-14
times more pesticides per pound than adults and we should do everything
humanly possible to protect” said Bethany Renfer, Program Coordinator,
Clean Water Action.

A coalition of Michigan environmental groups and health professionals are
promoting the reduction of pesticide use in and around schools and public
buildings.  We are encouraging the public to contact their local
school boards and ask them to phase-out the use of toxic pesticides
through the implementation of an integrated pest management program
(IPM).  While Michigan has a law that requires schools and public
buildings to adopt IPM programs, a survey conducted earlier this year by
Clean Water Action, the Ecology Center, Michigan Environmental Council,
and West Michigan Environmental Action Council, found that many schools
across the state were using pesticides.

Exposure to environmental chemicals at school during critical
developmental periods has been linked to childhood cancers, asthma,
learning disabilities, and hyperactive behavior disorders. School based
pesticides use, which are chemicals that are intended to kill pests,
expose children to these poisonous chemicals through inhalation,
ingestion, and absorption through the skin, on the playground, and in the
residue.  In many cases, parents, teachers, and school employees are
not informed or warned when pesticides are used.

The Poisoned Schools: Invisible Threats, Visible Actions Report
details how such a program can work and provides a model policy for
adoption and implementation of a Gold Standard Integrated Pest Management
System in schools.

For more information on pesticides and its impact on children, please
visit the following web sites:

 www.childproofing.org 
- to obtain copy of Poisoned Schools: Invisible Threat, Visible Actions
Reports
 www.beyondpesticides.org 
– Beyond Pesticide – National Coalition Against Misuse of 
Pesticides
 www.chej.org 
– Center For Health, Environment and Justice
 www.preventingharm.org
-- Clean Water Fund

For more information, Clean Water Action (517) 203-0754 or the Ecology
Center (734) 663-2400 x108.