A new report just released earlier this week by the Oregon Toxics Alliance has proven to make big news. The report reveals that children in Oregon have been exposed to pesticides at schools, bus stops, and playing fields over the past two decades.

The report cites 56 cases of suspected pesticide exposure at schools and child care facilities since 1990. Lisa Arkin, the executive director for OTA, believes that a much larger problem of unreported cases are occurring.

The data for the report was pulled from the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the Oregon Department of Human Services, and the Oregon Department of Forestry. The data gathered paints a picture of a larger ongoing problem with no laws to protect the most vulnerable of people... our children.

With all the attention given to pesticides and the potential harm that it may cause to our health, Oregon Toxics Alliance is calling for new laws regarding buffer zones for pesticides around schools.

One source of pesticides we don’t hear much about is our own lawns.  Many common over the counter treatments contain chemicals that can be toxic to our pets, our children, and ourselves.  For example, Round-up contains glyphosate – a substance which the EPA determined is a potential human carcinogen.

So, we spray our lawns with this stuff and that’s exactly where our children and pets spend their time.  As if this direct threat wasn’t enough, then the chemicals are tracked back into the house exposing the whole family.

Over the last several posts, I've referred to studies showing pesticides are a likely factor in the honey bee die-off and leading to salmon run extinction.  Now there's evidence that they kill frogs. 

"A pesticide used to kill everything from head lice and fleas at home to agricultural pests in farm fields and mosquitoes in neighborhoods can decimate populations of frogs whose habitat is exposed to the poison, according to new research." ^{_{- Dan Shapley, thedailygreen.}}

Lots in the news these days about toxics and toys.  Here's some good resources to help you navigate your way through the toxic stew...

• Healthier Kids Information - Oregon Toxics Alliance provides information on toxics in toys, cosmetics, food packaging/prep, and arts/crafts materials; and how to avoid them.
• Guide to Safer Children's Products - Healthy Legacy's guide to toxics in children's products and how to avoid them.
• Smart Plastics Guide - The Institue on Agriculture and Trade Policy's guide on plastics and food products.

A common myth about pesticides is that they only effect the areas where they're sprayed.  Not true.  A study by Minnesota state found atrazine  - a pesticide - in lakes far from farm country.

"...government scientists discovered small amounts of atrazine in nine out of 10 lakes sampled, including some in or near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness," - David Shaffer of the Star Tribune.

Like I always say, everything is connected.  You can't spray pesticides in one place and not have an effect elsewhere.

The only good thing I can say about field burning is it makes for some great pics.  These are from photographer Bobby Abrahamson .

BTW, If you haven't heard, the Governor is proposing a bill to ban field burning in the Willamette Valley by 2011.  We're happy that he's finally seeing it's an issue that needs to be dealt with, but what about all the people suffering in the meantime? Read more at the OTA website.

The Federal Government recently passed a law banning and limiting certain phthalates in children's products.  Phthalates are a common chemical found in plastics (including PVC) and have been shown to have detrimental effects on reproductive development in women and children.  More specifically:

"The new federal law permanently bans three types of phthalates from toys and certain child care articles, temporarily bans three other types of phthalates from toys and certain child care articles pending scientific review, and limits allowable lead levels in toys over a three-year period." - The Thrill of Victory and The Agony of Defeat, OEC.

Oregon Toxics Alliance was one of the first organizations to focus on toxics in toys.

Surprise, surprise.  Looks like pesticides are playing a part in the bee collapse.

"While pesticides have consistently been acknowledged as a contributing factor within this problematic milieu, recent research at Penn State has revealed that pesticide levels in hives are much higher than researchers predicted...The extraordinarily high levels of pesticides discovered in the bees, their honey, and their pollen, showed that pesticide exposure outside of the hives is contributing to the problem."^{_{- Show Me the Honey, by Taylor Hengen, Popular Science}}

I found the following while skimming though yesterday's Register Guard:

"The insecticides chlorpyrifos, malathion and diazinon ... are likely to lead to the extinction of more than two dozen salmon or steelhead runs in California, Oregon and Washington, according to a draft biological opinion by the National Marine Fisheries Service..."

I was shocked. Not at reading that pesticides are killing off our salmon runs.  Anybody that has half a brain and is paying attention to what's going on should be able to figure that out.  But to see that a federal agency is actually admitting to it.  This is big news with all kinds of potential.

The article goes on to say that the report is the result of a lawsuit brought on by Northwest Alternative to Pesticides (NCAP).  Good job NCAP!

An excerpt from the editorial section of Albany Democratic Herald notes the concerns that rural residents experience from aerial herbicide sprays:

"Assault with a deadly weapon? Chemical warfare? Eco-terrorism? What do you call it when a backward timber industry poisons rural Oregon families with routine helicopter herbicide spraying — contaminating livestock, organic gardens, water sources, even school children waiting for the bus?" -July 11th, 2008

Oregon Toxics Alliance is working to create buffer zones around schools and bus stops, and promoting alternatives to roadside spraying.

Rural communities are often most susceptible to herbicides and pesticides due to their close proximity to agriculture and forests. If you live in a rural Oregon community and you want more information, visit the Rural Rights page on the OTA website.

If you've been sprayed, we want to know about it. Together we can advocate for stronger laws to protect Oregonians.