On September 19, 2002, I met Maureen Marchetta, CHEC's representative, at the NJ State Senate committee hearing on the “School Integrated Pest Managment Act” and I shared my experience with her.

Ten years ago I went to pick up my first grade son at the local grammar school at lunchtime. To my shock and dismay I saw a pesticide applicator standing on the school sidewalk spraying pesticides with a long hose while children were walking by him. I knew that applying pesticides while school was in session was against the law, but I also was horrified to find that pesticides were being routinely used on the school lawns and fields. I was aware of the dangers of pesticides and their health effects from my graduate studies in developmental psychology, and I knew that pesticides are poisons and shouldn’t be sprayed on areas where children were playing.

Pesticide poisoning can cause acute symptoms, which range from headaches, nausea, rashes, respiratory problems, eye irritation, headaches, and in more severe instances muscle weakness, seizures, convulsions, and even death. In addition, scientific studies have linked pesticide exposures at lower levels to increased risks of various cancers, neurological problems, birth defects, reproductive disorders, kidney, and liver damage.

For all these reasons I knew that I had to do something. I started making inquiries about pest control and pesticide use in our local schools and found out that no one knew what was being applied or being used inside the schools – I was told that one company had a contract to treat the inside of the schools, and another company had a contract to treat weeds on the outside lawns. At the time, school officials didn’t take me seriously and treated me as a “hysterical mother” who was overreacting. I decided I would get a better response and support if I set out to educate people in my community. I started researching and finding up-to-date articles on pesticides and alternative methods of pest control, putting them together in an information packet, which I handed out to school officials, the Board of Education, and to other parents. The New Jersey Environmental Federation offered advice. I talked to our town Environmental Advisory Committee (of which I was a member) and enlisted their support. Our town’s FSA (Family School Association) then approved a resolution supporting the use of Integrated Pest Management on all the school properties. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection was contacted and sent a person to a Board of Education meeting to discuss pesticides and the benefits of Integrated Pest Management. The local newspapers even printed letters and information about the issue.

Finally, after several long months, during which time school lawns were still routinely treated with pesticides, the Cedar Grove Board of Education adopted IPM in 1993 for all Cedar Grove school properties. No longer were school lawns routinely treated, and inside the schools, non-toxic alternatives were used for the prevention of pests. In the decade since then other communities in the state have also adopted IPM for school properties. Finally, this past fall Governor McGreevey signed a bill stating that IPM would be used on all New Jersey school properties.

— Written by Mara Silgailis

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