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For Schools and Day-Care CentersYour young charges are one of the most vulnerable populations when it comes to pesticides. Children breathe more, eat more, drink more, and absorb more per pound of body weight than adults do. Kids play and breathe right down near the grass and the dirt and the carpet, where pesticides linger for weeks and even months. Small fingers often make their way into mouths. And children’s immune systems, nervous systems, and hormonal systems are still developing.
Pesticides can interfere with exactly what you’re tying to achieve with your children:
You want to keep the children safe. And you want them to be healthy and fit, so you encourage habits like hand washing and being active. But pesticides are associated with serious illnesses in children, including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, brain tumors, and leukemia.
With older kids, you encourage responsibility around reproduction. But pesticides are associated with reproductive problems of another type—from low sperm counts to miscarriage to birth defects.
You encourage the children to focus, to learn, and to behave, but evidence suggests that pesticides—since many are toxic to the nervous system—may interfere with even those basics.
Don’t count on your landscape-maintenance company to inform you about these risks. Even pediatricians aren’t always up on the latest in this area. Read up yourself. Some of the links on our Health Risks and LInks page pertain specifically to children.
Consider going organic at your school or day-care center. It could help your children (and their own children) grow up healthy, smart, and responsible.
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