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Protect California school kids from toxic pesticides

CREDO Action Network
July 1, 2016

Please sign the petition to establish a one-mile pesticide-free zone around all California schools.

http://act.credoaction.com/sign/ca_school_pesticid...

Of the 40 most common pesticides used in and around schools, 28 can cause cancer and dozens more cause reproductive and nervous system damage, disrupt the endocrine system, and even cause birth defects.1

Yet, school children in California are regularly exposed to these toxic chemicals because the state does not have adequate regulations to keep these dangerous agricultural pesticides far enough away from schools.

Protect California school kids from toxic pesticides

Children should be safe from harm at school, not be subjected to toxic pesticides with dangerous, possibly life-threatening consequences.


Tell the California Department of Pesticide Regulation: Establish pesticide-free zones around every school.


Pesticide exposure in California hurts poor and minority communities the most. Latino children are twice as likely as white children to attend school in close proximity to areas with heavy pesticide use.2

In Monterey County alone, Latino school children are 320% more likely to attend schools close to heavy pesticide use,3 and near one high school in agriculture-heavy Ventura county, nearly 29,000 pounds of pesticides were applied to fields within a quarter-mile of the school in just one year.4

But even when faced with clear evidence of the health risks these pesticides pose to school children, pesticide regulators in California have downplayed the risks and believe no further regulations are necessary.5

That’s why, along with our allies at Californians for Pesticide Reform and the Pesticide Action Network of North America, we’re planning to deliver petition signatures to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation on July 12 to ramp up pressure on regulators to keep these dangerous chemicals away from schools once and for all.

Tell the California Department of Pesticide Regulation: Establish pesticide-free zones around every school.

Thanks for all you do.

References

  1. Schools & Playgrounds, Pesticide Action Network
  2. Justice delayed for Latino schoolchildren,” Pesticide Action Network, May 11, 2016
  3. Californians for Pesticide Reform, “New Reports: Latino children bear greatest burden of pesticide risk in California,” San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center, May 16th, 2016
  4. Liza Gross, “ Fields of Toxic Pesticides Surround the Schools of Ventura County—Are They Poisoning the Students?,” The Nation, April 6, 2015
  5. Tony Barboza, “Pesticide use near schools triggers a push for statewide regulations,” Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2015

Website: http://act.credoaction.com/sign/ca_school_pesticides/?t=2&akid=18724.6619361.OdDh_X