Westchester County Pest Management
Committee,
800 MOB, 148 Martine Avenue, White
Plains, N.Y. 10601
PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN FROM
PESTICIDES
on No Pesticides Day, and every day
Children are
more vulnerable to pesticide related health problems than adults. Therefore
1.Cancel all routine spray service for pest control in your home. Learn about least toxic alternatives by going to Beyond Pesticides.org or calling Cornell Cooperative Extension at (914) 285 – 4640.
"Children are at increased risk of asthma, more so
when they are exposed to pesticides during their first year of life”. Salom
,M.T MBBS, MS, lead author. ”Early Life Environmental Risk Factors for Asthma:
Findings from the Children’s Health Study” Environmental Health Perspectives in
press ehponline.org
2. Stop routine applications of
lawn pesticides (insecticides, herbicides and fungicides). Visit www.grassrootsinfo.org for
information about the least toxic alternatives to use. Download the information
to share with neighbors.
"We are in the midst of a revolution in scientific
understanding of the links between environmental exposures and health, and
pesticides appear to present significant risks. With an abundance of safe pest controls available today, the
routine use of lawn care pesticides should not occur. Patti
Wood, Grassroots Environmental Education.
3. Make sure your
school complies with the New York State Neighbor Notification Law, which
requires every school to establish a pesticide notification registry for
advance notification of any school pesticide application and to provide
universal notification to all parents summarizing all school pesticide use.
Application must be made by parents to receive the pesticide notice. Parents
can also work with schools to implement an Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
plan for non-toxic alternatives.www.healthyschools.org
.
“We strongly
support No Pesticides Day, and urge all institutions serving children; schools,
day care and youth centers, to use this day to identify and dispose of toxic
products that can cause permanent injury, disability and chronic health and
learning problems in children.”
Claire Barnett, Executive
Director of Healthy Schools Network
4. Begin eating more organic food and wash or peel fruits and
vegetables. This is especially important for babies and small children.
5. Dispose of pesticides properly
at Westchester County Household Chemical Cleanup Days. The first date is
Saturday, May 8 at FDR State Park in Yorktown. Call the County Household
Chemical Information Line at 914-813-5425 or check westchestergov.com for
future dates.
6. Be aware that pesticides are in many products. Try to avoid purchasing products that contain them. These can include: swimming pool chemicals, soap (antimicrobials), paints, wallpaper (fungicides), shelving paper, and mothballs. There are even pesticides in the "edible" waxes on fruits and vegetables. You can find more about hidden pesticides in CHEC’s HealtheHouse at www.checnet.org.
7.
Avoid purchase of chromated copper arsenate (CCA) treated wood. This lumber, commonly known as
“pressure-treated,” has been used extensively in a variety of outdoor building
projects including decks, fencing, picnic tables, playgrounds and railroad ties
often used for gardens. Recent testing
shows that high levels of carcinogenic arsenic leaches from the CCA treated
lumber and can get on children’s clothing and hands. There is no “safe level” of arsenic exposure in children. If you
decide to replace existing structures containing CCA treated wood with safe
alternatives, you must ensure careful and proper disposal of this hazardous
material by contacting the Westchester County Household Chemical Information
line at 914-813-5425.
8.
Protect your child from mosquitoes and ticks by having them wear long sleeves
and pants at hours that mosquitoes bite and in grassy areas and woods. It is
important to follow safety precautions when using insecticides with DEET in
children. Do not use DEET on the hands of young children; avoid applying to
areas around the eyes and mouth. Avoid spraying in enclosed areas and near
food. The percent of DEET should generally not be more than 10% in children.
Wash treated skin with soap and water after returning in doors. DEET products are
not recommended for children under 2 months. There are plant based less toxic
repellants available but some studies show them to be markedly less effective.
9.Check if chemical treatments are being used for weed or insect control at the fields where your child plays sports. Request that recreational directors in charge of community athletic fields implement an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan with stated yearly goals of pesticide reduction and use of least toxic pesticides. Information about maintaining fields without the use of pesticides can be found at http://www.safeturf.com/.
10. If you have an outbreak of a pest problem,
go to BeyondPesticides.org and Panna.org to look for the least toxic
alternative to use.
Physicians can learn more about health hazards linked to
pesticides from the scientific background papers on the website www.childenvironment.org
of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Center for Children’s Health and the
Environment. They need to also take a pesticide use history and encourage
patients to stop using them.
Parents needing some professional
guidance about pesticide exposure may want to call the Pediatric Environmental
Specialty Unit at 866-265-6201.
Pregnant women and nursing mothers
need to be especially vigilant to avoid pesticide exposure in the ways outlined
above. In addition there are situations that one wouldn’t expect to have a
danger of pesticide exposure. In the spring hardware stores often have bags of
pesticides which can off gas pesticides, Tree nurseries use pesticides so often
that pregnant and nursing women should probably avoid them all together unless
its an organic nursery. Airlines also often use pesticides on some flights.
Everyone is encouraged to take
part in reducing the use of toxic pesticides in whatever way they can. Parents can educate themselves about
pesticides by reading the authoritative book by Philip Landrigan M.D., “Raising
Healthy Children in a Toxic World” www.healthykids-toxicworld.com .
Involve your children by going to the Green Squad website at www.nrdc.org/greensquad
Westchester County Pest Management
Committee
800MOB, 148 Martine Avenue
White Plains, New York, 10601
Action for Tomorrow’s
Environment
American Association on
Mental Retardation
American Lung Association of
Hudson Valley
Audubon Naturalist
Audubon New York
Beyond Pesticides
Children’s Health
Environmental Coalition
Citizens Campaign for the
Environment
Environment and Human Health,
Inc
Environmental Advocates
Friends of the Rockefeller
State Park Preserve
Grassroots Environmental
Education
Healthy Schools Network, Inc
Huntington Breast Cancer
Action Coalition
League of Women Voters of
Westchester
Learning Disability
Association of America
Lymphoma Foundation of
America
Native Plant Center
Natural Resources Defense
Council
New York Public Interest
Research Group
No Spray Coalition
Rachel Carson Council, Inc
Riverkeeper
Save the Sound
Sheldrake Environmental
Center
Sierra Club, Lower Hudson
Chapter
Toxics Action Center
Waterkeeper Alliance
Wildlife Conservation Society