Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/498229
Fa s t - f o r wa rd . R e ce n t ly, C u r i e l s h owe d h e r t h i rd - grade students at La Gloria Elementary a YouTube video a b o u t p e s t i c i d e d a n ge r s . The video shows historical clips of people claiming that the infamous insecticide DDT, banned in the U.S. in 1972, "was actually healthy for you," and a Time magazine ad from 1947 hailing the wonders of DDT, illustrated with dancing farm cows and the caption "DDT is good for meeeee!" Curiel, who lives in Salinas near strawberry and lettuce fields, cares deeply about the community. She knows of three teachers and another school employee in Gonzales district who fought cancer, along with two others in nearby Chualar, where the crop fields end only a few feet from the playground equipment at the ele- mentary school. "There's a lot of research that shows that pesticide use can have not only immediate effects but also future ones," Curiel says. "There needs to be safer solutions to managing crops. Our future depends on it." S O M E O F T H E T O P 1 0 poisonous agricultural pesticides used near public schools in California are especially dangerous for how they can damage young children's brains and nervous systems, a 2014 state report and a review of recent studies shows. The top three pesticides, by pounds applied within a quarter mile of public schools in 2010, were the fumigants chloropicrin, 1,3-dichloropro- prene (or 1,3-D), and methyl bromide, according to the 2014 California Department of Public Health study "Agricultural Pesticide Use Near Public Schools in California." The one that ranked eighth, chlorpyrifos, is a brain toxin and nervous system poison banned for home use in 2001 by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Fumigants have the potential to drift after application. The state allowed Salinas Valley growers to exceed limits for the use of the carcinogenic fumigant 1,3-D for more than a decade, putting communi- ties at risk for cancer, according to an investigative series of stories by Oakland-based Center for Investigative Reporting published in Novem- ber 2014. The series is about how California's $2.6 billion strawberry industry is hooked on using dangerous fumigants which have been linked to cancer, developmental problems and ozone depletion. Some resources about California pesticide hazards: • Autism and pesticides: Pregnant women who lived near fields and farms in California where pesticides were used had a two-thirds in- creased risk of having a child with autism spectrum disorder or oth- er developmental delay, according to a study unveiled in June 2014 by researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute. Find out more: www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/publish/news/newsroom/8978 • ''Generation in Jeopardy" report: The free 40-page report "A Gen- eration in Jeopardy: How pesticides are undermining our children's health and intelligence" looks at numerous scientific studies about pesticides contributing to childhood diseases and disorders. Find out more: www.pesticidereform.org/article.php?id=395 • CHAMACOS study: Pregnant Salinas Valley women exposed to organophosphate pesticides gave birth to children with lower IQs and "poorer cognitive functioning" who had increased risk of atten- tion problems at a young age. This ongoing study of 601 women by the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) began in 1999 and is coordinated by the UC Berkeley Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health. Find out more: cerch.org • Strawberry industry probe: The darker side of the highly profitable California strawberry industry, which supplies nearly 90 percent of the nation's strawberries, is exposed in this November 2014 series of stories by the Oakland-based Center for Investigative Reporting. Find out more: beta.cironline.org/investigations/strawberries • Californians for Pesticide Reform: Some Monterey County edu- cators are working with this Oakland-based coalition of 185 public interest groups dedicated to environmental issues and protecting public health. Find out more: www.pesticidereform.org Community organizer Mark Weller with Californians For Pesticide Reform holds a protest sign used by Monterey County teachers. Aniceto Cortes Which pesticides are dangerous to schools, communities BAD CHEMISTRY by Mike Myslinski 39 V O L U M E 1 9 I S S U E 8