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Pesticides are poisonous chemicals used in schools and around school grounds to kill weeds, insects, rodents, and fungus. Children are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of pesticides because of their smaller size, their organs still being under development, and they eat and breathe more relative to their body weight. For an adult or child, pesticide exposure is unwelcome and increases the risk of adverse health effects. Our children have a right to an environment that ensures that they have the best opportunity to reach and maintain their potential.
The health effects of pesticides are well established; after all, they are designed to kill. Pesticides can affect a child's nervous system, respiratory system, endocrine function, and some are even linked to cancer. Pesticide exposure in schools can be reduced or even eliminated by establishing an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. For example, in Seattle, WA a public committee was established by the Seattle School Board to examine pesticide use and consider establishing an IPM policy. The Seattle School Board adopted the following policy:
It is the policy of the Seattle School Board that students and staff have a right to a healthy learning and working environment. The District will work to achieve this, in part, by reducing and eliminating the use of pesticides and other toxic chemicals through the use of Integrated Pest Management in buildings and grounds programs, as set forth in the attached procedures. The goal of this policy is to create and maintain sustainable, healthy school environments by using methods that emphasize protection of children's health and use of ecologically sound practices, in order to achieve long-term prevention and suppression of pest problems.
The above policy statement was supported by a more detailed operating procedure that outlines an IPM approach. These changes in management practice were not expected to increase costs while the use of chemicals is being reduced or even eliminated. In some cases less toxic chemicals were substituted for more toxic pesticides.
More information on developing an IPM policy for your school can be found at Washington Toxics Coalition (www.watoxics.org) and School Pesticide Reform Coalition (www.beyondpesticides.org/toxicfreeschools/index.htm).
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