August 1994, Pierre Part, Louisiana.In the week before school opened for the
fall, a school custodian sprayed the schoolyard around Pierre Part Primary School
with the unregistered insecticide lindane in an effort to control rodents and fleas.
Diazinon was also sprayed in and around fourteen portable classrooms just before
and during the first week of school. Teachers reported strong odors in the classrooms,
and forty-one individuals, including students and teachers, reported adverse health
effects in the first three days of school. Then another lindane application was made
in several classrooms after school one day, and again just before students arrived the
following morning. The school was closed later that day due to continuing health
complaints and the lingering odor of the chemicals. A total of ninety-eight health
complaints were received and reviewed by the Louisiana Office of Public Health
(LOPH). Symptoms reported by children and adults included headaches, abdominal
pain, diarrhea, nausea, skin rashes, difficulty breathing, and sore throats.
The school remained closed for weeks while three state agencies investigated the
illegal applications. The presence of pesticides was confirmed by analysis of wipe sam-
ples from classrooms and the playground. The National Guard was called in to help
with decontamination (cleaning of classrooms and removal and replacement of play-
ground soil and sod). Portable classrooms that had been directly treated with lindane
were torn down.
The LOPH concluded that children were exposed to pesticides by inhaling vapors
when they entered treated classrooms, and possibly via hand-to-mouth contact and
skin absorption from touching residues on desks and teaching materials. The agency
also concluded that the health symptoms reported were precipitated by pesticide ex-
posure. Ironically, the LOPH report about the incident also noted the ‘‘the flea infes-
tation remained a problem in the school, even though copious amounts of pesticides
had been used.’’
The parish school board was fined $2,500 for violating state pesticide laws. A
class-action lawsuit filed by parents against the school district was settled in 1998.
The district spent nearly a million dollars for soil testing, cleanup, and rebuilding.^49
June 1993, Forestville, New York.Forestville Central High School was evacuated
and closed for a day in late May following the application of a ‘‘weed-and-feed’’
product. Vegetation control containing 2,4-D was applied to lawns around the
school. Odors were drawn into school via the ventilation system. The district was
cited for allowing pesticides to be applied by an uncertified applicator, and was fined
$500. Then, just a few months later, a custodian under the direction of the school
nurse sprayed Rid Lice Control Spray (permethrin) in an elementary classroom on
the same central school campus. The school district was again cited for allowing pes-
ticide application by an uncertified applicator, and signed a consent order waiving a
$1,200 penalty.^50
September 27, 1993, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.Seventeen children
were sent home from Montgomery Elementary School just after lunch with head-
aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and low-grade fevers. Food poisoning was ruled
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