Don't poison the children

 

    Recent news that the continued usage of lawn chemicals on school grounds is even being considered is disturbing. The current lawn care contract cost the ICCC District over $429,000, and it is unclear how much of that sum was for pesticides. Apparently the School Board’s discussions regarding renewal of the contract for lawn care include some uncertainty about whether and when to allow the use of lawn chemicals. 

     In using the system called “Integrated Pest Management”, how is it decided when it is necessary to apply pesticides? Quality Care, the district’s current applicator, is well-known for it’s ‘four times a year’ application work on area lawns: chemical fertilizer and early weed control in the spring; chemical fertilizer and pest control in early summer; chemical fertilizer and chemical weed control in early fall; and another application of chemical fertilizer before winter sets in. Is there an industry standard recommending these applications when weed numbers per square foot or yard reach a numerical level? The fact is, it’s never necessary and the school board should not be weighing the health and safety of the children vs. the questionable aesthetics of a weed free lawn. Nitrogen, which does help lawns grow thicker (which helps keep weeds from becoming established), is easily supplied by applications of organic corn gluten, although sweet clover is a purely natural provider of soil nitrogen.

     When Roundup first appeared, it was advertised as ‘not harmful to children or pets’, and ‘ not persistent, quickly degrading’. But quite soon it became clear that Roundup causes lymphoma in dogs and that it is far more persistent than first thought. Dogs play on lawns and dogs are considered fit for use in medical research because dog physiology is sufficiently similar to human; children play on the grass too and the conclusion to be drawn is obvious. 

     The latest research shows Roundup to be even more toxic than previously thought, because it contains “confidential” and unlabeled ingredients that affect all living cells, according to the journal Toxicology.

     When it appeared, Roundup was just the latest in a string of chemicals that the chemical industry claimed were ‘harmless’ or ‘relatively harmless’ and that subsequently were shown to be exceedingly toxic.  It is finally being recognized that the widely used organophosphate pesticides – which are neurotoxins –are a probable cause of Parkinson’s disease, the increased incidence of ADHD, and other neurologically based disorders.

Good rules to remember are:

    1) A “safe pesticide” is an oxymoron. There is no such thing. And “safely applied” and “used correctly” are phrases designed to lull consumers into illusions under which they will buy the product.

    2) Because children have so many rapidly growing tissues they are especially vulnerable to pesticides’ dangers.

As educated persons in charge of our children’s schools, school board members should know these two rules. If they don’t, they must educate themselves to understand them. If they do know and yet persist in allowing lawn chemicals to be used on school lawns, they should resign or be removed from office because they are knowingly putting children into serious danger.

     Dandelions and sweet clover in a lawn do not cause it to be ugly and both are more resistant to drought than grass.  It does require some thought to see a lawn sprinkled with the yellow and white flowers as pretty, but many potential adverse effects to our children’s health would be averted if a majority of the School Board can look at such lawns and think, “that’s healthier and prettier than weed free, look-alike sprayed yards.”

 

     It’s time to let science rule what we do to our environment:  stopping pesticide use on school property is one good place to start.

http://www.chem-tox.com/pesticides/

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_27101.cfm  

(scroll down to the section on Roundup)

http://lawncare.about.com/od/weedcontrol/a/organic_weed.htm

http://www.the-organic-gardener.com/organic-weed-control.html 

http://landscaping.about.com/od/weedsdiseases/a/organic_yards.htm

http://www.ehow.com/list_6147672_common-pesticides-herbicides.html

Carol deProsse

Caroline Dieterle