New Pesticide Right-to-Know Law for California Schools

BEC Joins Parents, Health Professionals, & Public Interest Groups Celebrating the Signing of Healthy Schools Act of 2000

On September 25, 2000 Governor Gray Davis signed the Healthy Schools Act of 2000, AB 2260, authored by Assemblyman Kevin Shelley (D-San Francisco/San Mateo). The law requires advance notification to parents and teachers of pesticide use in and around schools and mandates posting when pesticides are applied.

The Healthy School Act of 2000 is a significant step towards improving the health and safety of California's schools. It was supported by a consortium of concerned parents and organizations including Butte Environmental Council. The Act requires annual notification of planned pesticide use to all parents and guardians at the beginning of each school year and provides a registry for parents to sign up for notification in advance of all applications. The Act also requires schools to post signs where pesticides are applied, to remain for 72 hours.

"With the Healthy Schools Act becoming law, California graduates [from] kindergarten on the path of school pesticide reform," said Joan Clayburgh, Campaign Director for Californians for Pesticide Reform. "Now parents and teachers will have information to better protect their health."

The Healthy Schools Act requires Department of Pesticide Regulation to provide school districts with a manual and training on alternative pest control. Finally, the Act requires school districts to maintain detailed records of pesticide use on school sites, including the name of the pesticide, amount applied and location.

"With the passage of this bill, we recognize that pesticides pose a significant threat to children," said Martha Arguello, Environmental Health Coordinator for Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles. "California will now give parents and children an important tool for protecting their health."

Pesticides are more dangerous for children for a number of reasons. Children's internal organs are still developing and maturing and their enzymatic, metabolic, and immune systems may provide less natural protection than those of an adult. There are many critical periods in human development when exposure to a toxic substance can permanently alter the way an individual's biological system functions. Children's behavior can also put them at increased risk, such as playing on the floor or on the lawn where pesticides are commonly applied, or putting objects in their mouths. These activities all increase their chances of exposure to pesticides.

In California, children may be exposed to pesticides used throughout the school system, including in their cafeterias, classrooms, school buses, and playgrounds. A recent CALPIRG survey of the 15 most populous school districts in the state discovered that all responding districts used at least one particularly hazardous pesticide-those linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental harm, acute illness, nervous system damage and hormone system disruption.

In addition to PSR, and CPR, the Healthy Schools Act of 2000 was supported by over 75 other organizations including the American Cancer Society of California, the American Academy of Pediatrics-California District IX, American Lung Association-California, California Academy of Family Physicians, National Brain Tumor Foundation, California Medical Association, California Nurses Association, California School Nurses Association, California State PTA, Children's Health Environmental Coalition, SEIU, California Public Interest Research Group, Pesticide Watch, Pesticide Action Network, Women's Cancer Resource Center and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

For a copy of the bill, visit the state legislative website: www.leginfo.ca.gov.

For more information on the problem of pesticide use in schools and the Healthy Schools Campaign visit the CPR website at pesticidereform.org or the CALPIRG website at calpirg.org.

This column originally appeared in September 2000 in the Chico Examiner.