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How pesticides are undermining our children’s health & intelligence
- 1. A Generation in Jeopardy How pesticides are undermining our children’s health & intelligence Kristin Schafer, Policy Director Yountville, March, 2014
- 2. Kids are less healthy This generation is experiencing diseases & disorders their parents or grandparents were unlikely to face.
- 3. Children’s Health Harms on the Rise, 1975 - 2011
- 4. Kids are less healthy Developmental disabilities. 400,000 to 600,000 of the 4 million children born each year are affected. Childhood cancer: Overall incidence up 25% since 1975; leukemia & childhood brain tumors up 40% and 50%, respectively. Asthma: More than 7 million now affected, up from 2 million in 1980.
- 5. Pesticides contribute to childhood health harms Particularly compelling data: Brain & nervous system. Certain childhood cancers.
- 6. Kids are exposed to pesticides where they live, learn & play Environments we’d like to consider “safe” — from womb to classroom to kitchen table — often bring children into contact with harmful pesticides.
- 7. Kids are exposed to pesticides where they live, learn & play Relative to their size, children eat, breathe and drink much more than adults. Daily exposure = cumulative & synergistic effects
- 8. Kids are exposed to pesticides where they live, learn & play Even at very low levels, interference from pesticides at critical moments can derail development. Some effects can last a lifetime.
- 9. Schools, parks & playgrounds Pesticides often linger in indoor environments Residues on books, walls, counters & desks
- 10. Schools, parks & playgrounds Of 40 pesticides most often used in schools: 28 cancer links 26 reproductive effects 26 nervous system harms 13 birth defects
- 11. Schools, parks & playgrounds Herbicide use on playing fields is widespread; often a mixture of active ingredients Children pick up residues on their clothing, shoes and hands
- 12. Schools, parks & playgrounds Young children explore the world in hands-on ways Pesticides used on wooden play structures and lawns end up on fingers & in mouths
- 13. Moving toward solutions School districts, cities and counties across the country are reducing use of pesticides where children live, learn and play
- 14. Moving toward solutions CT: Herbicide-free playgrounds and fields for daycare & K-8 since 2005. NY: Child Safe Playing Fields Actof 2010, daycare & K- 12
- 15. Moving toward solutions California’s Healthy Schools Act, 2000 Parent notification Encourages IPM using least-toxic controls
- 16. Moving toward solutions Model IPM programs: Los Angeles San Francisco Santa Barbara Palo Alto www.panna.org/green-schools
- 17. Moving toward solutions Strengthened Healthy Schools Act, 2014 (SB1405) IPM plan required Least toxic pest management training
- 18. Moving toward solutions Dozens of cities in Pacific-NW maintain pesticide-free parks and playgrounds
- 19. Moving toward solutions Nova Scotia, Quebec & 100s of Canadian municipalities ban “cosmetic” pesticide use on lawns, parks and playgrounds
- 20. Moving toward solutions “Children cannot make choices about their environment; it is up to adults to make the right decisions to ensure they are protected.” - Dr. Lynn Goldman
Editor's Notes
- Describe report – worked with our scientists to review 200 plus studies exploring link b/n pesticides & children’s health. Dr. Myrto has covered this in detail, I’ll present some of our high level findings, then give some examples of how some communities, both here in CA and across the country, have taken steps to protect children from pesticide exposure in schools, parks and playgrounds.
- Pesticides are clearly not the only cause of these trends – but evidence is quite strong and getting stronger that pesticides are an important contributing factor.
- Talk just a bit about how chidlren are exposed to pesticides
- An infant takes in about 15 times more water than an adult per pound of body weight, and up to age 12, a child inhales roughly twice as much air.
- Chemicals can last for days, weeks – even years in indoor environments.
- Palo Alto – no chemicals used to control weeds on playing fields in 13 elementary and 3 middle schools
- France recently passed a law that will prohibit private or public use of pesticides in green areas, forests or public spaces – and severely restrict pesticide use in the home