Citizens Campaign for the Environment
Empowering Communities, Advocating Solutions.
- Water Protection
- Aquatic Invasive Species
- Broadwater: Liguefied Natural Gas Facility
- Carmans River
- Clean Water, Green Jobs
- Great Lakes
- Hudson River Desalination
- Long Island Sound Dredged Materials
- Long Island Sound Protection
- Millstone Nuclear Power Station
- MTBE Pollution in Drinking Water
- Ocean Protection
- Onondaga Lake
- Owasco Lake
- Power Plants Kill Fish
- Sewage Pollution
- Wetlands Protection
- SPECIAL FEATURE: Great Lakes Conference
- SPECIAL FEATURE: Long Island Groundwater
- SPECIAL FEATURE: Long Island South Shore Estuary Reserve
- SPECIAL FEATURE: New York State Sewer Scorecard Report
- SPECIAL FEATURE: Onondaga Lake Remediation Document Repository
- Public Health, Toxics, and Recycling
- Acid Rain
- Artificial Turf
- Bottle Bill
- Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Hazardous Waste Landfill
- Human Pesticide Testing
- Lawn Pesticides: An Unacceptable Risk
- Manufactured Gas Plants on Long Island
- Mercury Pollution
- Pesticide Free Schools
- Pesticide Neighbor Notification
- Pesticides: Mosquito Control / West Nile Virus
- Plastic Bag Reduction
- West Valley Nuclear Waste Site
- SPECIAL FEATURE: Current Local Air Quality
- SPECIAL FEATURE: Long Island Recycling
- Open Space and Working Landscapes
- Climate Change and Energy Policy
- Climate Change
- Energy Transmission
- Fix LIPA
- Natural Gas Hydro-Fracking in Shale
- New York State Energy Plan
- Renewable Energy
- Wind Energy
- SPECIAL FEATURE: Climate Change Resource Center
- SPECIAL FEATURE: Energy Conservation
- SPECIAL FEATURE: Green Levittown
- SPECIAL FEATURE: Green Street LI
- SPECIAL FEATURE: Hydro-Fracking Resource and Action Center
- SPECIAL FEATURE: WindWorks for Long Island
- Legislative Campaigns
CAMPAIGNS
Pesticide Free Schools
Children at risk
Pesticides are often used both indoors and outdoors at our schools, to kill insects, weeds, and fungus. Children are more sensitive to toxic exposure due their developing and smaller bodies. Children are therefore at an elevated risk to the dangers associated with pesticide exposure.
Pesticides and our children’s health
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Academy of Sciences, and American Public Health Association, among others, recognize the danger that pesticide exposure pose to our children’s health. The growing body of peer reviewed scientific evidence indicates that pesticide exposure can adversely affect a child's neurological, respiratory, immune, and endocrine system, even at low levels. Long-term exposure to pesticides has also been linked to cancer, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Health problems associated with short-term pesticide exposure include acute impacts, such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, seizures and respiratory problems. Researchers have found that pesticide exposure can induce a poisoning effect linked to asthma. Asthma is the leading cause of school absenteeism due to chronic illness in the nation, accounting for 14 million lost days of school annually. Despite this evidence, these toxic chemicals remain in widespread use in and around our schools.
Of the 48 most commonly used pesticides in schools:
- 81% are irritants
- 69% are neurotoxins
- 53% are linked to reproductive effects
- 50% are linked to cancer
- 69% are linked to kidney and liver damage
For the full report, click here.
Safer alternatives exist
Fortunately, schools can eliminate their use of hazardous pesticides while successfully and cost-effectively managing pest problems in school buildings and on school grounds. Numerous municipalities, school districts, individual schools, and some states, have chosen to adopt school pesticide policies that require a school to prohibit the use of toxic pesticides, and instead, use readily available and affordable non-toxic alternatives. Time and time again, schools that have eliminated toxic pesticide use are reporting effective pest management and significant long-term financial savings. For example, CCE supported successful Connecticut legislation in 2007 that banned pesticides in schools, grades K – 8!
Legislation to ban pesticides in schools
CCE strongly supports the Child Safe Playing Fields Act, S.4983s - Foley / A. 7937a - Englebright which will amend the environmental conservation law and the education law, to ban the use of aesthetic pesticide application on school and day care grounds. Read the full Memo in Support. Once enacted, this legislation will help protect the health of our children and provide significant long-term financial savings to schools.
Children spend a significant amount of time in school. Banning toxic chemical use where our children learn and play will reduce their exposure to harmful chemicals. This reduction will protect their developing and vulnerable bodies to the harmful consequences of pesticide exposure. The New York State Legislature and the Governor must pass the Child Safe Playing Fields Act to protect our children from pesticide exposure in our schools!
How you can help:
Email your New York State Senator, Assembly member, and Governor Paterson. Tell them:
- Your name, address and town/city.
- Our children must not be exposed to dangerous pesticides at school.
- You urge them to support passage of the Child Safe Playing Fields Act (A. 7937 / S. 4983).
- Ask for a response.
Email your Senator:
Not sure who your senator is? Click on the following link and type in your zip code to find out:
http://www.senate.state.ny.us/sdlookup.nsf/Public_search?OpenForm
For an email list of Senators, visit: http://www.senate.state.ny.us/Senatorbio.nsf/Public_MemberEmail?openform
Email your Assembly member:
Not sure who your Assembly member is? Click on the following link and type in your zip code to find out: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/
For an email list of Assemblymembers, visit: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?sh=email
Email Governor Paterson via: http://161.11.121.121/govemail
Please forward any response you receive to show email address, or call (516) 390-7150 --- it helps us track progress on the issue. Thanks!
Updated by tbono 12/22/09