HEALTHY
SCHOOLS
Author: Robert M. Gould, MD
Introduced by: Robert M. Gould, MD
Adopted March 1999
Whereas, Children in California spend as many as six to
eight hours per day in school ; and,
Whereas, Limited resources for school building maintenance
and a recent increase in the construction of portable school
classrooms has resulted in inadequate ventilation, roof and
seam leaks, biological contamination (e.g. mold growth), dusts
and vapors from construction and chemical emissions from building
materials (1) and,
Whereas, An estimated 77 percent of California's public elementary
schools and child care facilities have been painted with lead
based paint, an estimated six percent of California elementary
schools contain bare soils in children's play areas which
exceed the U.S. EPA reference value for lead, and 18.5 percent
of California schools are likely to have lead
drinking water at or above the federal action level (2); and,
Whereas, 87% of surveyed California school districts report
using highly toxic pesticides identified by state or federal
agencies as known or suspected carcinogens, acute or chronic
neurotoxins, developmental and reproductive toxicants, or
hormone disrupting chemicals (3); and,
Whereas, Numerous studies have correlated pesticide exposure
with increased risk of childhood cancer, and reproductive,
developmental and neurological disorders; and,
Whereas, Children are at greater risk from environmental
contaminants both because of greater physiologic susceptibility
and greater relative exposure. (4) Children's hand to mouth
behavior increases their exposures to contaminants in dust
and soil. Children are also less able to metabolize and excrete
certain toxicants, and their developing organs are more susceptible
to disruption (5); therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the CMA support efforts to protect indoor
air at California schools through increased funding for school
maintenance; improved standards for school design, construction
and repair, including portable or temporary school structures;
and increased indoor air quality training and monitoring;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That the CMA support efforts to adopt standards
and provide training for the purpose of reducing or eliminating
in-school exposures to lead; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the CMA recommend statewide implementation
of least-toxic school pest management programs, with such
programs precluding the use of highly toxic pesticides, reducing
over-all pesticide use in and around school grounds, and including
parents in pest management decision making.
References
1 US General Accounting Office. 1996. School
Facilities: Profiles of School Condition by State. Washington,
DC (Report No: GAO/HEHS-96-148).
2 California Department of health Services.
1998. Lead Hazards in California’s Public Elementary
Schools and Child Care Facilities. Sacramento, CA. (April
15).
3 California Public Interest Research Group
Charitable Trust. 1998. Failing Health: Pesticide Use in California
Schools. San Francisco, CA.
4 National Research Council. 1993. Pesticides
in the Diets of Infants and Children. National Academy Press.
Washington, D.C.
5 Wargo, John. 1996. Our Children’s
Toxic Legacy: How Science and Law Fail to Protect Us from
Pesticides. Yale University Press. New Haven, CT.
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