Regulating Pesticide Use in United States Schools

spend substantial amounts of time in U.S. school buildings and on school grounds every year. The number of states enacting regulations specifically to protect school community members from risks related to pest management activities has grown to 39 since the first law was passed in Texas in 1991 (Table 1, Fig. 1). Here we examine this trend with the goal of identifying and explaining key elements of these regulations to help guide development of effective programs for the future. Reducing pests in school environments is a worthy goal. Development of asthma, asthma attacks, and asthma-like symptoms have been conclusively associated with exposure to cockroaches, rodents, and dust mites (Bonnefoy et al. 2008, Gore and Schal 2007). Asthma is the number one cause of student absenteeism in the U.S., resulting in loss of 14.4 million school days per year (American Lung Association 2011, Akinbami 2006). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC 2012) reported that in 2010, 9.4% of the nation’s children were affected. Nichols et al. (2005) reported that between 2001 and 2003, more than 28% of children in one urban center were affected. An estimated $8 billion to $50 billion per year was spent caring for asthmatic children from 2006 to 2010 (CDC 2011, Soni 2009). Pesticides are valuable tools to help reduce risks associated with pests. However, experience suggests their use generally, and especially in schools, childcare settings, and other sensitive environments, should be carefully managed and minimized. Children are especially vulnerable to pesticide exposure due to their increased consumption of air, food, and water relative to body size, as well as common hand-to-mouth, handto-ground, and hand-to-floor behaviors (Goldman 1995, National Academy of Sciences 1993, U.S. EPA 2003, U.S. GAO 1999). Surveillance data collected from 1998 and 2002 indicated nearly 3,000 reported acute illnesses resulting from pesticide exposure incidents in schools, including three severe illnesses and 275 of moderate severity (Alarcon et al. 2005). Sixty-nine percent of incidents resulted from pesticides applied on school property; 39% were associated with drift from neighboring properties. Alarcon et. al. indicated these numbers should be considered low estimates due to underreporting. Chronic health effects were not assessed in the Alarcon study, although potential for chronic illnesses exist. A number of pesticides commonly used in and around schools (Beyond Pesticides Regulating Pesticide Use in United States Schools