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California Healthy Schools

Parents, teachers and health professionals across the state are working to protect school kids from pesticides.<>
In California, where much of the country’s fruits and vegetables are grown, health-harming pesticides are routinely used on fields near schools. According to data from the state, more than 500,000 children attend schools within a quarter mile of fields where health-harming pesticides are applied.

Kids are also exposed to pesticides through the foods they eat, including school lunches. California’s pesticide residue monitoring found one or more residues on over half of the produce sampled. And studies tell us that — even at very low levels of exposure — pesticides can have long-lasting health impacts for children.

The good news is, this is a problem we can all do something about. Join parents, teachers and healthcare providers across the state in urging policymakers to protect school kids from pesticides in the air and on their plates.

What we’re doing

Pesticide drift is of particular concern for kids living in rural, farming communities. With partners across the state, we are urging California policymakers to:

  • Expand buffer zones around schools to one mile, 24/7 protections. Current laws and their enforcement vary from pesticide to pesticide, and from area to area. In the few counties that already have buffer zones around sensitive cites, like schools, very few go beyond 1/4 mile or are full-time. This is inadequate.
  • Regularly monitor the use of health-harming pesticides in close proximity to schools. The 2014 California Department of Public Health report that documented pesticide use near schools was the first of its kind. This data is readily available and should continue to be monitored — and made publicly available.
  • Put these new rules in place by the summer of 2017. The exposure California school kids face is real. It’s important that next school year be one where learning and growing are not inhibited by pesticides.

Get involved!

Help create a buzz online by sharing these graphics and tweets with your online communities.

More than 500,000 California children spend their school days with 1/4 mile of pesticide applications. http://bit.ly/ProtectCAKids #StopDrift

We need stronger buffer zones around fields to protect CA school kids from pesticide drift. http://bit.ly/ProtectCAKids #StopDrift

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Learn more about what we’re doing to protect children’s health — and how you can get involved — on our Healthy Kids campaign page.

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