Students sickened when pesticides drift

[Shallah Kali]

Source: Associated Press

On Grandparents Day, Domitila Lemus accompanied her 8-year-old granddaughter to school. As the girls lined up behind Sunnyside Union Elementary, a foul mist drifted onto the playground from the adjacent orange groves, witnesses say.

Lemus started coughing, and two children collapsed in spasms, vomiting on the blacktop.

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There are no federal laws specifically against spraying near schools, and advocates say California and the seven other states that have laws or policies creating buffer zones around schools to protect them from pesticides don't do enough to enforce them.

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Research on pregnant women exposed to common pesticides has suggested higher rates of premature birth, and poor neurological development and smaller head circumferences among their babies.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070515/ap_on_re_us/pesticides_schools_1

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article also at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070516/ap_on_re_us/pesticides_schools http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/05/15/pesticides.schools.ap

The article says that even in areas with laws against spraying near schools usually the most that happens is a $400 fine. Another child collapsed at a school track meet was found to be exposed to Endosulfan a very toxic pesticide banned in several countries yet still legal in the US ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endosulfan ). Further testing showed 5 more pesticides on the school's property. They don't know what small repeated doses do to kids while they do know large ones can cause paralysis and death.

Laws need to be put in place now before we find out just how bad this crap is for kids. IMO chemical companies should have to prove their products are safe before letting them use it. Those who wish to let them continue to spray chemcials freely around kids can always volunteer to persoanlly demonstrate their product's safety.


Pesticide Action Network http://www.panna.org

[Blue_Tires]

1. this probably goes on much more often than we think

[KT2000]

2. This is criminal

Spraying inside schools is also a problem,. In Washington state, parents can learn of applications ONLY if they request that information. It is not routine to notify children or their parents when pesticides are used inside schools.