Methyl Bromide Exposure

Reflecting on our 28th annual Earth Day celebration, will our children inherit a cleaner planet than we did?

The recent release of the report, “Methyl Bromide Use Near California Schools” by the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group suggests that we have failed to protect our children, much less the planet.

Why should we care about methyl bromide use near schools? Let’s do the two-minute version this time, as short attention spans are implicated as a symptom of pesticide exposure--and scientists say that we’re all exposed.

Methyl bromide is a toxic nerve gas of which thousands of pounds is used near Ventura County schools. It also depletes the ozone layer, making it a high-profile pesticide of international concern.

Unfortunately, fields that use methyl bromide also use other equally toxic pesticides. The acceptable exposure rates are set for healthy adult males and are higher for agriculture than other industries. There is no monitoring to guarantee that those high exposure rates are not exceeded on campuses near agricultural fields.

Dangerous pesticides are used because of “risk / benefit assessment” . . . in a nutshell, if someone can benefit from the use, the risk to you is acceptable. Pesticides used for an emergency may not even be tested or registered.

You do not have the right to know when you or your child may be exposed to pesticides. Rather than instant death, pesticide exposure can initiate irreparable or cumulative damage to the brain or nervous system, cause chronic disease, immune dysfunction, miscarriage, even damage to DNA.

We do not need pesticides to grow food and fiber. Research money is directed toward finding better pesticides instead of nontoxic solutions to agricultural pests (see risk / benefit, above).

Concerned parents should ask how many thousands of pounds of methyl bromide is used near their child’s school. If a principal doesn’t have a copy of the report, contact Community and Children’s Advocates Against Pesticide Poisoning (654-4186) or check the Internet at www.ewg.org

Ventura County has distinguished itself by poisoning its children at school. Is this who we thought we’d be, on the 28th anniversary of Earth Day?

DEBORAH BECHTEL, Camarillo