Pesticide opponents estimate there are some fifty insecticides, herbicides, and fungi-
cides commonly used in and around schools. Some are implicated in reproductive and
neurological problems, kidney and liver damage, and cancer. Additionally, the follow-
ing have been reported as adverse health effects of forty-eight commonly used pesticides
in schools: twenty-two are probable or possible carcinogens, twenty-six have been
shown to have reproductive effects, thirty-one damage the nervous system, thirty-one
injure the liver or kidneys, forty-one are sensitizers or irritants, and sixteen can cause
birth defects. Because most of the symptoms of pesticide exposure, from respiratory
distress to difficulty in concentration, are common in schoolchildren and may also have
other causes, pesticide-related illnesses often go unrecognized and unreported.^44
The GAO Study
In the fall of 1999, the General Accounting Office (GAO), at the request of Dem-
ocratic Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, conducted a national review of the
extent to which pesticides are used in and around the nation’s 110,000 public schools
and the magnitude of the risk of exposure to children. The report found that the data
on the amount of pesticides used in the nation’s public schools is neither available
nor collected by the federal and most state governments. The study also revealed that
the EPA is not doing enough to protect children from pesticides, and that there is
limited information on how many children are exposed to pesticides in schools. The
GAO cited the EPA’s analysis of the American Association of Poison Control Centers’
Toxic Exposure Surveillance System, documenting 2,300 school pesticide exposures
from 1993 to 1996. Because most of the symptoms of pesticide exposure, from respi-
ratory distress to difficulty in concentration, are common and may be assumed to
have other causes, it is suspected that pesticide-related illnesses are much more preva-
lent than presently indicated.
Specifically, the GAO found that:
- There are no comprehensive, readily available national or state-by-state data on
the amount and kinds of pesticides being used in schools today. - Although FIFRA requires pest control companies to keep records for two years
on the amount and site of pesticide applications, only one state requires them
to report this information to the relevant agency. - There is little information available about illnesses related to pesticide expo-
sure. The GAO documented 2,300 cases of exposure at schools from 1993 to
1996, but noted that this information is incomplete and unreliable because of
the lack of record-keeping, and therefore likely underestimates how often chil-
dren are exposed. In addition, of those 2,300 cases, the outcomes in 1,000 of
them are not known, or more than 40 percent are incomplete. For the cases
where follow-up did occur, 329 individuals were seen at health care facilities,
fifteen were hospitalized, and four were treated at intensive care units.
The Pesticide Problem | 11