Pesticides in schools

Winter is coming and pests will be less common. There is no reason to have a pest control company spray pesticides in or around any schools. Pesticides are known to be dangerous to children. Generic spraying of baseboards or around the perimeter of a building to “prevent” pests is a gimmick and has no function at all. If you have a pest control company treating your public schools or charter schools, that is fine. But have them inspect the entire school system each month and only treat any areas where they find a pest infestation. If they find a black widow, centipede or scorpion, they can spray that particular bug. There is no need to spray other areas to “prevent” them from coming in. The school buildings should be inspected by the maintenance dept. and any areas where pests can get into a building should be sealed or screened. Possibly put door sweeps on doors that do not close tightly. Make sure that tree branches don’t touch the buildings and there is no litter laying on the ground.

A recent study shows that children exposed to pesticides in home or in schools are much more likely to develop leukemia or lymphoma. Here is a link to the study.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/14/health/pesticide-exposure-childhood-cancer/index.html

So please cancel all unnecessary spraying of pesticides in any schools, day care centers and even residential homes where children live. Pests in the winter will be minimal and easy to control without using toxic pesticides. Just have a monthly inspection done and treat only infested areas if there are any. And if any infested areas have to be treated, make sure the company posts notification in advance of what they are spraying, when they are spraying, what the target pest is and also have them make available copies of the labels and Material Safety Data Sheets to anyone who wants them.