Help Protect Kids From Pesticides

Most parents enjoy tucking their kids at night, safe and sound in their little beds. Sure, times are tough, but that doesn’t take the joy out of sharing a quiet bedtime story and song, selecting a favorite stuffed animal for sweet dreams, sharing a pre-slumber hug and kiss, and spraying a child lovingly with pesticides.

Well, we’d like to think that that last item isn’t really on the list—spray our kids with pesticides? That’s just disturbing and sick—both literally and figuratively, since kids with pesticide exposure succumb to vomiting, severe headaches and other negative health symptoms.

But it’s still the reality. Children who live in farming communities are often exposed to pesticide spraying during growing seasons, particularly at night, while walking to and from school, or during other close contact with the farms. The nauseating smell of pesticide will often even wake kids from their sleep in the middle of the night.

And it’s not a regional issue. Everywhere from Lindsay, CA to Washington to Florida, kids—as well as all other humans and sentient beings in the area—are subjected to these “poisonous pesticide clouds.” And while Congress has passed laws that mandate child protection from any and all pesticide exposure—including the drift caused in these situations— the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has yet to really enforce it.

Earthjustice (the people known as the “lawyers of the environment”) is calling for stronger safety standards for kids, especially those who grow up in farming communities and are at the most risk for pesticide drift. This drift, which occurs when toxic vapors or sprays waft over from the fields the pesticides have been sprayed on, should be prevented at any and all cost.

If the EPA gets word of a lead contamination in a community with children as residents, they dig it up and investigate—even replace the affected soil with new, lead-free soil; why isn’t there a similar concern for kids in these communities?

Earthjustice is also calling for a no-spray buffer zone to be enacted immediately around parks, schools, homes and daycare centers to protect those who are most vulnerable from possible pesticide exposure.

These demands are nothing new; in fact, the EPA was supposed to set these standards three years ago in accordance with Congressional law. Please take the time today to send your member of Congress a message asking that these requirements be met as soon as possible. You can send them a message here; please be sure to add your own thoughts.