 s the population of California and its
agricultural industry continue to expand, more and more children attend
schools near farm fields where toxic pesticides are applied heavily. Now
concerned parents, teachers and students can use the Internet to find out
what pesticides are being used, and where.
 A new Web site called @Risk ("at
risk") reports county by county and school by school all toxic pesticides
used within 1.5 miles of California schools in 1995, the latest year for
which data are available. @Risk, a project of the Environmental Working
Group, is at www.ewg.org/@risk.
With a few clicks of a mouse, @Risk
shows how many pounds of toxic pesticides were applied near any school in
California, crops the pesticides were used on, and adverse health effects
of exposure to the chemicals. @Risk, based on an analysis of state pesticide
use data, can also tell you where a school ranks statewide and in its home
county in terms of nearby use of pesticides.
"When we send our kids to school,
we assume they'll be in a safe and healthy environment," said Bill
Walker, California director of EWG. "Me use of toxic pesticides near
schools doesn't necessarily mean students are being exposed, but parents
do have a right to know about potential threats to their children's health.
We're not trying to single out individual schools as unsafe, but showing
how the rising use of pesticides increases the risks for everyone living,
working or attending school nearby."
California has the nation's most
comprehensive pesticide use reporting law, requiring every commercial pesticide
application to be reported to the state. @Risk makes this information available
online for the first time and organizes it so that users can easily determine
where pesticides are being used. @Risk will soon be expanded to include
information about other toxic air pollutants emitted near California schools.
EWG is a nonprofit research organization
that uses information technology to inform the public about environmental
threats to local communities. EWG's main Web site, which includes databases
on issues ranging from toxic waste in fertilizer to political campaign contributions
by polluting industries, is at www.ewg.org.
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