A coalition of parents, doctors and environmentalists urged the Los Angeles school board today to adopt stricter policies regulating the use of pesticides in schools and received a tacit agreement.
"I'm so beside myself," Wendy Cohen, a Sherman Oaks Elementary School parent, told the Los Angeles Unified School District's Health and Safety Committee. "I was horrified to know that our children were in contact with the chemicals that were sprayed on March 30."
Cohen and Robina Suwol, speaking at a news conference, alleged that their children and some other students accidentally came in contact with a toxic mist while a gardener was spraying weeds about 7:30 a.m., as they arrived for school.
Dr. Felix Aguilar of the Harbor-UCLA Family Health Center said that dursban, a chemical used to kill roaches in LAUSD classrooms, "is a nerve toxin."
"Children are not simply little adults," he said. "Children are in the midst of highly complex and developmental processes that regulate tissue growth and organ development."
"It is a cause for concern," Aguilar said. "Children need to be protected."
Christina Graves of Pesticide Watch asked the committee to consider a policy similar to one in the San Fransisco Unified School District, which bans toxic pesticide use.
She said the use of roach traps and caulking holes in walls would keep schools insect free, without subjecting students to possible carcinogens.
Dave Koch, LAUSD business manager, told the committee the district tries to control insects by keeping classrooms clean.
"The use of pesticides is the last resort," Koch said. "We must sometimes resort to use chemicals."
LAUSD board member Julie Korenstein said she would be willing to revise a motion addressing the issue, which she had submitted to the committee for review.
Korenstein said she would take the concerns voiced at the meeting into consideration and redraft the motion, but she did not say when.
Comments on this posting? Click here to post a public comment on the Trash Talk Bulletin Board. Click here to send a private comment to the Junkman.
Copyright © 1998 Steven J. Milloy. All rights reserved on original material. Material copyrighted by others is used either with permission or under a claim of "fair use." Site developed and hosted by WestLake Solutions, Inc.
Material presented on this home page constitutes opinion of Steven J. Milloy.