ACTION ALERT: Support the Healthy Schools Act of 2011
Pesticide Watch and Californians for Pesticide Reform have joined with Senator Mark DeSaulnier to introduce The Healthy Schools Act of 2011 (SB394) to help protect children from exposure to pesticides, and they need your help.
SB 394 requires schoolsites to participate in the Department of Pesticide Regulation's existing integrated pest management (IPM) trainings, ensuring school personnel are trained in the most efficacious, cost-effective, least toxic pest management methods available for treating pests while protecting the health of public school children, teachers and workers. The bill also prohibits higher risk pesticides and high-exposure application techniques.
endorsement letter template
to write a letter in support of SB394 and
send or fax it to DeSaulnier's office by April 15th:
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
FAX (916) 445‐2527
According to the CDC, children between the ages of six and eleven have the highest levels of pesticides in their bodies when compared to any other age category. Some pesticides have been found at levels 200% higher in children than in adults.
Pesticide exposure is known to cause acute symptoms, such as nausea, headache, dizziness, asthma attacks, and respiratory irritation, which are often diagnosed as flu symptoms. Pesticides are also linked to chronic health effects such as developmental and reproductive problems, learning disabilities like ADHD and autism, nervous system disorders, immune deficiency, and cancer.
Children's exposure to pesticides has contributed to a rise in a variety of chronic illnesses and fatal diseases. In the last twenty years, asthma among children has more than doubled and is now the leading cause of missed school days in California. From 1977 to 1994, learning disabilities among children rose 191%, with brain cancer in children up 40% from 1973 to 1994.
"This legislation ensures that California schoolchildren and teachers are provided with a safer and greener learning environment," said Paul Towers, state director of Pesticide Watch. "With the right training and support, healthy schools are within reach."
"California used to be the state others turned to as a model for ensuring the health of kids in school," said Sarah Aird, State Field Campaigner/Organizer, Californians for Pesticide Reform. "Although some California schools are reaping the health benefits and financial advantages of green pest control, as a state we've fallen behind the cutting edge. It's time for California to take the lead again."