Guiding Principles For Children’s Environmental Health
Healthy Schools Network News, Spring 2000, The Partnership for Children’s Health and the Environment
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Academy of Sciences have found that children are uniquely susceptible to hazardous environmental exposures. In addition, they have determined that many of these exposures can cause or contribute to disease and disrupt development, learning and behavior. Based on these scientific findings, we unanimously support the following principles:
All children, from conception onward, have the right to clean air, safe food and drinking water, and consumer and commercial products free of environmental health and safety threats.
All children have the right to healthy homes, healthy child care facilities, healthy schools and healthy communities.
All children and adults have the right to know about proven and potential hazards to their environmental health and safety.
It is our mutual responsibility to protect these rights and to act with precaution on decisions that could affect children’s health and development.
Children vs. Constructions for Four Years
Parents from Washington State found no laws to protect children during school construction, and no state agency willing to step in. They observed: unsecured asbestos removal with kids on site; muriatic acid applications with children walking by; unattended skill saws left in hallways plugged in; high noise levels; clouds of cement dust; heavy machinery operating on the playground during recess; improperly stored construction chemicals; solvents vented to a classroom. School also refused parents access to Material Safety Data Sheets and refused access to lead-level surveys.
No Bathrooms
One upstate New York School Superintendent is solving the problem of teen smoking in bathrooms by limiting all 9-12th graders to just one rest room in the school. The State Education Department termed the policy “inappropriate,” inflated jargon meaning the school is ignoring regulations for toilet ratios. The superintendent told parents he had used the tactic in five previous districts.
Dusty tiles
Heavy dust the consistency of confectioner’s sugar coated an unsealed, newly installed tile floor and felled more than one teacher and students in Massachusetts this winter. A teacher advised us that custodians and the contractor did not have enough time to complete the work before school reopened.
Toxic Floor To Go
Ballston Spa, NY parents and teachers finally won their battle this winter to have a synthetic gym floor removed from their primary school. After months of “baking out,” it was still off-gassing toxics.
How to Blow $125 Million
The most expensive school construction project in the country, Belmont High School in Los Angeles, had already topped $125 million when the district pulled the plug. Built on top of an oilfield, it had “unresolved” environmental problems.
Superintendencies: A Men’s Club
While women and children make up the vast majority of school occupants, the people in charge are white (95%) males (87%) over the age of 50 (median age 52). For more information: American Association of School Administrators 888-782-2272 or www.aasa.org .
Chlorine Gas
Both U.S. EPA and OSHA claimed no jurisdiction over heavy fumes in a South Dakota public school that affected a staff, some seriously, and two dozen students. According to an asthmatic teacher who called us for advice and referral, personnel were told to keep quiet.
Asthma Linked to Poor Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
Researching what’s obvious to asthmatics, a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences commissioned by the U.S. EPA found that pollutants in indoor environments affect asthma. Control strategies include: removing pets and pests, eliminating chemical pollutants, and controlling indoor humidity. Cleaning the Air: Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures, 202-334-3313 or 800-624-6242.
Too Crowded to Learn in NYC
Schools holding more than their stated capacity jeopardize fire safety, sanitation, and learning. A report by the Public Advocate for the City of New York, September 1999 found: 438 of New York City’s 723 elementary schools are operating at or in excess of capacity; schools are eliminating “specialty rooms” such as music and art to make room for core classes; libraries, gyms, and cafeterias are missing or inadequate; schools are cramming students into small rooms, even a former phone booth for “funded programs.” For more information: Mark Greene, Office of the Public Advocate at 212-669-7200 or NYC Healthy Schools Working Group at Advocates For Children at 212-947-9779.
Sunshine Laws vs. Comment by E-mail
Receiving public comment by e-mail and not making public all comments undermines the intent of Sunshine Laws. For more information: www.commoncause.org, which challenged the practice of a Pennsylvania school district.
More Toddler Brains on Drugs
Prescriptions are up on stimulants (three-fold) and anti-depressants (doubled between 1991 and 1985) for children ages two- to four-years old. While more children are being diagnosed and treated, little is known about the long-term consequences of psychotropic medicines on young children. The study did not review whether any environmental health histories had been taken on the children. (Journal of the American Medical Association, February 23, 2000, as reported in Education Week, March 1, 2000)
Animals, asthma, & E. coli?
Custodial workers at an upstate New York school are coping with animal wastes on carpets and in class sinks with fountains also used to clean animal cages. Custodians’ concerns include filth in the carpets the children sit on, animal waste in the sink/fountain basins, and the need for fresh cleaning rags so that allergens and animal debris won’t be carried from room to room.
Safety by Design
Architects can help prevent violence at school by using ordinary design features such as placing lavatories between classes not in halls, eliminating student lockers, and providing emergency call buttons in classes.
Chemical Peels
When steam from the furnace of an upstate New York elementary school roiled through the building, paint peeled off the walls and the doors turned green, reported one teacher. With dank odors lingering, 10% of students are being kept home voluntarily; another 10-15% are being sent home from school by their teachers, too ill to learn.
Flunking Playground
A study by the National Program for Playground Safety rated playgrounds in 27 states. Overall the study gave the nation’s playgrounds a C-minus, but failing grades for: failure to post rules, failure to provide age-rated play areas, and failure to keep equipment free of broken parts, rust, or splinters. Ratings did not take pesticide residues or lead dust into account. For more info: 800-554-PLAY.
2,300 Pesticide Poisonings at School
No comprehensive information exists on pesticide use by the nation’s 110,000 schools, reported the U.S. Government Accounting Office. Data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers culled by U.S. EPA also found that there were 2,300 reported pesticide poisoning at schools from 1993 to 1996. The U.S. GAO observed that there is little information or follow-up on the cases, and that little is known about long-term pesticide exposures. At the same time, several states have taken steps to reduce school pesticide use and the U.S. EPA has been actively promoting less toxic alternatives for nearly a decade.
Caring for School Facility Treasures
For over 25 years the Technical Preservation Service of the National Park Service has helped groups by publishing easy-to-read guidance on how to rehabilitate or restore older buildings. Dozens of technical briefs include lead controls, energy efficiency in older buildings, how to remove or protect old walls from graffiti, window replacements. http://www2.cr.nps.gov
/tps/care .
Let us know about your school problem:
askhealthyschls@aol.com, or call us at 518-462-0632 for guidance, support, or to order our parent-friendly guides on protecting environmental health at school.