Toxic Free NC - Get Informed!

Avoiding Big Risks for Small Kids
Results of the 2008 NC Child Care Pest Control Survey
by Jean Strandberg, Billie Karel and Katherine Mills, MSPH
Published by Toxic Free North Carolina, 2009

In the summer of 2008, Toxic Free NC surveyed 89 child care providers from across the state about pest control in their facilities in an effort to learn more about their safety and effectiveness. Three key findings emerged from our survey results:

1) The majority of responding child care providers said broadcast pesticide application methods that carry a high risk for exposure to children and staff are regularly used at their facilities. Providers who employ professional pest control contractors, or Pest Control Operators (PCOs), were more likely to report that high-risk methods are used in their facilities than those who handle pest control in-house.

2) Around one quarter of responding child care providers are using least-toxic pest control methods, known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM is a safer approach to pest control that is widely used in NC public schools. It relies on preventative measures and uses pesticides only minimally, and in a targeted fashion that all but eliminates the risk for human exposure. Child care providers in our survey who use IPM appear less likely to have serious pest problems than those using conventional, high-risk practices.

3) Responding child care providers who use a PCO for pest control are less likely to be using IPM than those who use in-house staff for pest control.

These findings are troubling, because research has connected pesticide exposure to increased risk for any types of health problems. For most, young children are at the greatest risk for health damage because of their small size and rapid growth and development.

Additional survey findings confirm that many of the people employed and served by child care facilities are at elevated risk for health damage from pesticide exposure because of their age or health conditions, and also reveal some other serious pesticide exposure risks in their daily lives. Our survey also showed the most common pest problems faced by child care providers, which include ants, mosquitoes, fire ants, weeds, and flies. Some of these pest problems are more serious than others, but all can be managed safely and effectively with least-toxic IPM methods.

Based on the findings of this survey, the authors recommend:
• Training and certification for pest control contractors in least-toxic IPM methods for child care facilities and other sensitive environments. Child care providers need a reasonable guarantee that when they hire a professional pest control contractor, that person will provide the safest possible pest control for the vulnerable women and children in their facility.
• Training for child care providers on least-toxic IPM. For providers who do their own pest control, training will enable them to do so as safely as possible. For providers who contract with a professional, training will teach them what to ask for from a contractor, and how maintenance and sanitation in their facilities can best support a least-toxic pest management program.