Victory! Safer Schools
for North Carolina
by Fawn Pattison
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Photo: USDA |
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Quick
Guide to the Pesticides * Requires school districts to enact IPM policies over the next five years in compliance with recommended guidelines. * Requires school districts to immediately begin notifying parents and staff of pesticide use on school grounds. All parents will receive annual notification of pesticide use, and the right to be notified 72 hours before any pesticide application on school grounds (by request). Certain low-hazard formulations (such as baits and traps) are exempt. * Requires the NC Board of Education to adopt IPM guidelines as well as guidelines to help schools comply with the notification requirements. Other toxics * Requires school districts to enact policies and practices to protect children from diesel fumes, mold and mildew, elemental mercury, and arsenic-treated wood on playground equipment. * Requires the State Board of Education to adopt guidelines to assist schools with each of these components of the new law. |
The bill was sponsored by Representatives Grier Martin (D-Wake), Marian McLawhorn (D-Pitt) and Marvin Lucas (D-Cumberland). “It’s just common sense,” stated Representative Martin. “You don’t want toxic chemicals in school buildings that can harm kids’ health and make it harder for them to learn. It just so happens that we can reduce the risks from these hazards in a way that’s straightforward and cost-effective, too,” he said. “I was very pleased to be a part of this bill,” stated Representative McLawhorn, “it will help make school grounds safer for children.”
Pediatrician Debbie Leiner, a member of the NC Pediatric Society, agrees. “There is growing scientific evidence that exposure to these common contaminants can increase children’s risk for many kinds of disease, including respiratory illness, learning difficulties and in some cases even cancer. From a medical perspective, this bill makes good sense – to prevent serious illness in the first place by making schools safer for kids,” Dr. Leiner said.
Beginning this fall, schools will have to reduce students’ exposures to diesel fumes from idling engines, coat or plan to eliminate arsenic-treated wood on playground equipment, make sure there is no elemental mercury in their science classrooms, and start managing pests with IPM programs. Schools will have five years to fully implement the new IPM programs, but many districts around the state are already using it, and have even reported cost savings as a result.
“Since we started our IPM program, my spray equipment is just sitting in storage – we have turned to baits and traps,” said Ron Mack, Maintenance Supervisor at Elkin City Schools. “And we don’t have near as many calls about pests as we had before starting IPM.”
Legislators received hundreds of calls, emails and visits from constituents in support of the bill. This grassroots effort was the key to the bill’s success in the legislature. A coalition of groups worked with Toxic Free NC for the bill’s passage, including the Conservation Council of NC, NC Pediatric Society, Action for Children NC and the Covenant with North Carolina’s Children. The bill was also endorsed by Howard Lee, Chairman of the State Board of Education, as well as the North Carolina Pest Management Association.
Despite this broad-based approach, the bill faced avid opposition from two lobby groups representing some former manufacturers of arsenic-treated wood. The Treated Wood Council and Wood Preservatives Science Council, both based in Washington DC, launched an aggressive campaign against the bill, attacking the scientific experts and using questionable “science” paid for by the industry. An amendment introduced by Senator Jim Jacumin (R-Burke) would have gutted the protections from arsenic-treated wood on playground equipment, but was defeated on the Senate floor thanks to an eloquent defense by Senator Bill Purcell (D-Scotland), a retired pediatrician.
The School Children’s Health Act follows the philosophy of precaution. Instead of asking how much risk can be tolerated, the approach of this new law is to ask how much risk can be avoided. This precautionary approach to toxics is best for schools because it is designed to eliminate needless risks and protect the most vulnerable populations from harm.