Healthy Schools

 

Chemical Exposure at Schools

Parents should never have to worry that their children might be exposed to toxic chemicals when attending school. Unfortunately, harmful chemicals in cleaning products and pesticides pollute indoor and outdoor air quality and pose potential risks to our children's health.

Pound for pound, children breathe more air than adults and have frequent hand-to-mouth contact which can lead to the accidental ingestion of harmful chemicals.

Science has linked exposure to certain toxic chemicals with an array of health effects that can impair children's ability to grow, learn, play and eventually become productive working adults. Institutional cleaning products and pesticides can contain ingredients that have been linked to new onset asthma, cancer, reproductive problems, developmental disorders, and hormone disruption.

We Must Protect Our Children

Providing the safest and healthiest learning environments for our 105,000 school children should be a priority for the state of Vermont. Exposure to toxic chemicals in cleaning products and pesticides can have detrimental effects on our most vulnerable population.

Children have developing organs, do not detoxify as quickly, and breath more air per pound of body weight than adults. Adverse exposures and injuries during childhood may have a lifetime impact on health. These impacts ar not only physically dangerous for the students, but create environments where it can become difficult to learn.

Although Vermont's Envision Program is charged with assisting schools and improving indoor air quality and environmental health, the program is voluntary and has not proven successful in protecting the majority of Vermont's children. It is clear that more needs to be done.

The Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Vermont will work to ensure that school throughout the state are free from toxic chemicals and put the safety and health of our children first.

Quick Facts:

• The natural tendencies and developing bodies of children increase their vulnerability to toxic chemicals.
• Only 23 schools have been certified by Vermont's Envision Program to date
• State Buildings have been required to purchase "green" cleaning products since 2004 as part of the Clean State Program.
• The use of "green" cleaning products by both the state and participating schools demonstrates that switching to these products is cost neutral.
• According to a 2002 Vermont Public Interest Research Group survey, at least 32,800 Vermont students are at risk of being exposed to the harshest toxic pesticides while at school.

Solutions That Can Win

1) We must mandate the use of environmentally preferable cleaning products at school facilities.

Environmentally preferable cleaning products are safer for human health and the environment than traditional cleaning products and are performance-verified as well. The use of "green" cleaning products by both the state and participating schools demonstrates that switching to these products is cost neutral. It is time for the rest of Vermont's schools to follow suit.

2) We must eliminate the use of the worst pesticides at schools and provide schools with the tools necessary to prevent pests through least-toxic methods.

Pesticides are poisons that are intended to kill. When applied on school grounds, pesticides can contaminate the air, soil, and water and can easily come in contact with children. Vermont needs to eliminate the use of the worst pesticides at school facilities and employ strong and thoughtful Integrated Pest management (IPM) strategies designed to address the sources of pest problems via the least-toxic methods possible.