Young Student teaches others about pesticide poisoning

(Safer Management of Pests and Landscapes)
Questions Prepared by and for Elementary School Children
On Pesticides

Mrs. Diepenbrock’s 4th grade class
Becky David Elementary
Francis Howell School District
St. Charles Missouri
Class Coordinator: Matt Schwab
Project Manager: Louis Carroll

My name is Louis. I am in 4th grade. I am the Project Manager of Missouri-SMPL Jr. I have kids at different schools who send me questions about pesticides and bugs and stuff. I get the answers from the Missouri-SMPL panel and other experts. I try to make it so our answers are easy for kids to understand. I have just started doing this. I was poisoned by pesticides when I was little and I have chemical sensitivity. I stay at home most of the time except when I play ball. I play ball on fields with no pesticides or chemicals. My best friend Matt had the first set of questions from his class. These are listed below. Thank you. Louis

You can be poisoned by pesticides by breathing them while they are being sprayed and even for a while after they are sprayed (pesticide sprays become air-borne) or if your skin touches things with pesticides on it like the grass, dirt, carpeting, toys, etc. (your skin acts like a sponge and absorbs it). You can also get poisoned by pesticides by eating food with pesticides on them. You can be poisoned by one large exposure or with some pesticides you can be poisoned by small amounts several times. There have even been studies that show you can bring in pesticides on your shoes after you walk on grass where the poisons have been sprayed.

You use common sense and prevent and correct the things that allow bugs to live and multiply. That means for roaches you keep food messes and trash cleaned up and stored in air tight containers. Bugs need food and water to live. You also make sure to seal off cracks where they can enter the building. If there still is a problem, baits can be used away from pets and children and they have no hazardous fumes in the air. Outside trash containers should be sealed or have sealed bags in them to keep hornets, flies, mice and other pests away. Hornets like to eat the garbage and the flies that are attracted to trash. There are a lot of different ways to get rid of pests it just depends on the pest. For aphids in the garden you can do like The Botanical Gardens. They release good bugs such as lace wing or lady bugs on the plants or you can spray the plants with plain water using the garden hose and a little water pressure or squirt them with soapy water. For flea control for your cat or dog, your Veterinarian can give you pills for the animal to take. This doesn’t keep fleas off the pets but makes the fleas so they can’t have babies and then they won’t multiply and become a big problem. Vacuuming will get rid of the few that are left. For mosquitoes, bricks with larvicides can be used to kill the mosquitoes before they hatch, while they are still in the larval stage and are just little wiggly bugs and can’t fly yet. This way people, good bugs and animals aren’t exposed to the poisons. Another thing to get rid of mosquitoes is to dump standing water such as old water in bird baths, empty tubs or containers, old swimming pools and clean the gutters so the water won’t pool. Mosquitoes need water to make babies. If you are having a barbecue at your house you can run a fan on the guests that will blow the mosquitoes away from them. Our organic farmer on the Missouri-SMPL panel told us that he just puts up stakes for his tomatoes to keep the tomato worms away. He said this works by providing a place for the birds to land and then they do all the work. There are people all over the country who know of many different choices that are safer and these people have been doing this for a long time and want to help others by sharing this information. It is always better to use something that is the least harmful first. Here’s an example: If you have an ant in the house, you squish it. If you see a couple more, you squish them too. If you still are seeing ants, you make sure to keep up the crumbs off the floor and wipe up where you saw the ants with vinegar and water or plain soap and water. (They leave an invisible trail for the other ants to follow). You might also be able to find where they are coming in and have someone seal this up. If you still have a problem then your parents might have to break out or make a boric acid ant bait. This is a pesticide but it is put in a sealed container which should be kept away from pets and children and it doesn’t put harmful chemicals in the air or on the floor like the sprays do.

Sometimes people think they have the flu when they are exposed to pesticides. They might be dizzy, have a head ache, nausea or other aches and pains or break out in a rash. The experts at the Mt. Sinai Medical School say some pesticides can cause Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Autism, Lowered Intelligence, Parkinson’s Disease and other illness’. Some pesticides can cause asthma or cancer and can even affect unborn babies while their mothers are still pregnant. Children are affected more because their systems are still developing and they do not have the ability to break down some poisons. Children are also more likely to be affected because pound for pound, they drink and eat more than adults, and they spend more time closer to the ground and actually on the ground, where pesticides are used. Also, Senior Citizens, pregnant women and people who already have health problems are more likely to be affected.

Pesticides are poisons. They are specifically made to kill living things. Pesticides include flea dips, mouse or rat poison, flea collars, wasp spray, ant spray, termite treatments, weed killers (even weed and feed), any inside or outside bug spray and many powders too, even chemicals used to kill fungus.

Children can be made sick easier than grown ups. Some pesticides poison your nervous system (brain and spinal column) and because children are still developing and are more susceptible they should not be exposed to pesticides.

No-one can say for sure. Some pesticides can make you sick immediately and some may not show the affects for a few weeks which make it hard to identify. Some researchers believe you might get cancer later in life from being exposed while you are a child. There have not been enough tests to know all the health effects. It is better to be cautious and avoid using poisons and always try the least harmful way first.

Pesticides ARE poisons and there are many complicated names for different kinds of pesticides. Unfortunately, the extra or inert ingredients can also be harmful and some more harmful than the main pesticide chemical. These extra ingredients do not have to be listed on the label because of trade or company secrets. Some chemicals added to pesticides make the body so it can’t use it’s natural ability (called enzymes) to break it down. Also, when you add more than one pesticide together, it can make it hundreds of times stronger.

8. How can teachers help inform their students so that they can be more aware of this problem?

Missouri teachers can participate in the Missouri SMPL Jr. programs like you are doing. They can also arrange for speakers to come to their school or class. Another thing they can do is start an environmental club and could even utilize the internet for discussions or communication. Ask Missouri-SMPL if you want help doing these things.

We know of no laws in Missouri regarding children and pesticides. Some states including Illinois have passed laws requiring safer pest control in schools. There is a Senator in Congress trying to get a law passed to protect all children in all schools in the US. Also President Bill Clinton has made an Executive Order: "To Protect children from environmental health and safety risks". Because of this order the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) now has a Children’s Protection Division. Their mission is "To protect children’s health from environmental threats". Also because of this national concern, there are many projects with teams of medical schools and federal government agencies across the country working on how to protect our children and how to teach people about these issues. Now that you know all this information about pesticides and safer ways to control them, here is a question. How would YOU use safer pest control in YOUR house to kill flies? Would you use a spray or a fly swatter?

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