NEWS BRIEFS
NO MORE
TOXIC SCHOOLS?
Back in 2008 Beyond Toxics (then Oregon Toxics
Alliance) did research on the dangers of using toxic
pesticides on school grounds. The organization
tracked issues such as how many schools had to be
evacuated and how many kids were sent home sick
from toxic exposures. As a result in 2009 the Oregon
Legislature passed a bill that ensures Oregon private
and public schools K-12 as well as community colleges
must first look to nonchemical means of controlling
pests. This new policy starts in July, but schools and
government agencies are getting ready for the transition
now.
According to the Beyond Toxics report, children are
uniquely vulnerable to harm from pesticides while
they are growing and developing. It cites instances of
kids being exposed to pesticides at bus stops and on
playing fields.
Some school districts, such as Eugene 4J, already
use integrated pest management (IPM) to control
weeds and pests and protect schoolchildren, but the
rest of Lane County’s kids, and most kids in Oregon,
have not been protected from pesticides at their
schools.
Lisa Arkin, executive director of Beyond Toxics,
says the bill came out of a legislative working group,
led by Suzanne Bonamici, just elected to the
congressional seat vacated by David Wu. Arkin says
the group included educators, everyday people affected
by pesticides — including people from Triangle Lake
who are still fighting pesticide sprays in that area — as
well as people who represented pesticide industry
interests.
Arkin calls Oregon’s new rules “one of the strongest
pieces of legislation protecting children on school
grounds in the nation.”
According to the Oregon Department of Agriculture,
schools are starting to gear up now for the switch to
reduced use of toxics in everything from bug control to
weed control. OSU is doing outreach to schools that
might need help with the switch, and ODA is working
with pesticide applicators.
ODA says, “If done correctly, IPM not only reduces
the use of pesticides but is actually more effective at
ridding the pest problem.” ODA stresses that IPM
doesn’t remove pesticides from a school’s toolbox in
specific situations.
Arkin agrees, pointing out that if a kid stepped on a
hornet nest, a school would be able to use a pesticide
to get rid of the hornets. But no chemical can be used
when children are on the premises, she says.
She says, “We think the definition of IPM used in
the school law should be incorporated into other state
laws” and protect people from toxic exposure on
public roadways and in government buildings, an issue
Beyond Toxics is working on in its Safe Public Places
campaign.
— Camilla Mortensen
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