Statewide Childcare Pest Control Survey Complete!
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Photo: Toxic Free Kids Intern Jean Strandberg shows off a map of NC counties included in her survey, and a sheet of 89 "boots," each representing a completed pest control survey from an NC childcare provider. Nice work, Jean! |
This year, Toxic-Free Kids Intern Jean Strandberg conducted a survey of pest control practices in North Carolina’s childcare facilities. Childcare centers are of particular concern when it comes to pesticide use because infants and young children are more vulnerable to health risks from toxic chemical exposure than adults. Over the summer and fall, Jean contacted 592 childcare centers in 13 counties across the state and gathered 89 completed surveys.
Here is a sneak-peek of her preliminary findings:
• More than half of the childcare providers surveyed reported that pump sprayers and/or foggers (both high exposure risks) are used in their centers.
• Roughly a quarter of all survey respondents care for infants under a year old and have a monthly contract with a pest control company that uses high-risk pesticide application methods.
Katherine Mills, a doctoral student in epidemiology at UNC, assisted Jean with data analysis. We look forward to sharing the full results in a special report, due out this spring.
In the meantime, we must bid farewell to the project’s main architect: Jean left Toxic Free NC this month to finish up her degree in Community Studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz. We will miss her dearly, and wish her lots of luck in her future adventures. Thank you, Jean!
Toxic Free News is a publication of
Toxic Free NC
206 New Bern Place, Raleigh, NC 27601
(919) 833-5333, Toll-free
1-877-NO-SPRAY
, http://www.toxicfreenc.org
Mission: Toxic Free NC advocates
for alternatives to toxic pesticides in North Carolina by
empowering people to make sound decisions about their health
and environment.
Staff: Billie
Karel, Program Coordinator; Ana Pardo, Communications Coordinator;
Fawn Pattison, Executive Director; Jean Strandberg, Toxic
Free Kids Intern; Princess Jallah, Farm-to-Childcare Intern.
Board of Directors: Colleen
Boudreau, Treasurer; Ghassan Hamra; Laxmi Haynes; Mindy Hiteshue; Cathy
Jones; Omar Laínez; Michelle Nowlin, President-Elect;
Annie O'Leary; Katherine M. Shea, President; Allen Spalt,
Immediate Past President.
Emeritus Board Members: Billie Rogers, Jane Sharp MacRae,
Erick Umstead.
Community Leadership Council: Melissa Bailey, Mary James, Anna Jensen, Silvia Peterson, Juvencio Rocha Peralta.
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