AB405:

Reading, Writing & Human Experimentation 

BRANDON STIRLING BAKER / California Safe Schools 26jul2005

The 14th Amendment of our Constitution says that everyone is entitled to equal protection under the law. I'm 17 years old, and I'd like to live way past 18.

Too many kids have cancer and asthma and lots of learning problems and kids need to be protected from anything that might make health and learning problems worse. Our constitution seems to agree, because if they didn't want kids to be protected our founding fathers would have said that everyone is entitled to equal protection under the law except kids. And it doesn't say that.

California law today allows pesticides that have not received full health, stability and efficacy tests to be used on school campuses. These products that are not fully registered are known as "experimental" or "conditionally registered" products. The fact that K-12 public schools are being targeted to test experimental or conditional use pesticide products is downright creepy.

To close this dangerous loophole, Assemblywoman Montanez (D) has written a bill called AB405 [text below]. The sponsors are California Safe Schools, a children's environmental health coalition dedicated to protecting kids from environmental toxins. Keep in mind, the law requires that kids attend K-12 public schools, so it's not like we have a choice about what we have to sit through during the school days. The bill, which has been approved by the Assembly, was created to protect kids, and prevent K-12 public schools from being used as test sites for experimental chemicals.

To understand why this bill is important, here's what's missing on some products that they can now legally use in schools. It's not Halloween but hang on because this is scary:

EFFICACY TESTING. 

This has to do with how well a product kills pests. So, if you're a school district buying products, the last thing you want is to buy something that may or may not work, or use any product around schools where the chemical manufacturer never bothered to complete safety testing.

STABILITY TESTING. 

For those who weren't lucky enough to have a great science teacher like Ms. Macion like I did, and may not have learned about stability tests, they tell you about a chemical's storage ability. Some chemical interact with other chemicals and can become more dangerous the longer they are stored, and some others don't work if you store them too long. Even worse, an unqualified person multi mixing chemicals could end up causing an explosion or a release of chemicals in your school that if they don't kill you make you sick.

Kids are lucky at Los Angeles Unified, which is the largest school district in the state and the second largest in the country, because the district doesn't allow experimental pesticide products, and it has a smart program called Integrated Pest Management (IPM) that requires low-risk methods for killing pests and weeds. But hey, what about other school districts? When teachers and students visit, are they being used as lab rats? Without AB 405, it sure seems like it.

Anyway you look at it, K-12 public school kids, teachers and school workers can be used as lab experiments, without our knowledge. In the words of one of my favorite actors, Wallace Shawn as Vizzini in Princess Bride, it's "inconceivable!"

Brandon Stirling Baker is a 17-year-old student from Los Angeles. for further information contact:
California Safe Schools - 818-785-5515 www.calisafe.org 

AB 405 Assembly Bill - AMENDEDBILL NUMBER: AB 405	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 14, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 11, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 29, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Montanez

                        FEBRUARY 15, 2005

   An act to add Section 17610.1 to the Education Code, relating to
schoolsites.

	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

   AB 405, as amended, Montanez   Toxics.  
Schools: pesticide   use. 
   Existing law, the Healthy Schools Act of 2000, provides that
effective least toxic pest management practices should be the
preferred method of managing pests at schoolsites and requires that
the state take the necessary steps, pursuant to specified provisions,
to facilitate the adoption of effective pest management practices at
schoolsites. The existing act requires each schoolsite to maintain
records of all pesticide use at the schoolsite for a period of 4
years and to make the records available to the public upon request.
The existing act requires, on an annual basis, the school district
designee to provide to all staff and parents or guardians of pupils
enrolled at a school written notification addressing, among other
things, expected pesticide use. The existing act requires that the
recipients be afforded the opportunity to register with the school
district to receive information regarding individual pesticide
applications.  The existing act requires the school district designee
to post warning signs prior to application of pesticides at a
schoolsite.
   This bill would prohibit, in specified circumstances, the use on a
schoolsite of specified pesticides that have been granted a
conditional registration, an interim registration, or an experimental
use permit by the Department of Pesticide Regulation  , or a
pesticide that is subject to an experimental registration issued by
the United States Environmental Protection Agency  . The bill
would prohibit the use on a schoolsite of a pesticide if 
that agency   the Department of Pesticide Regulation
 cancels or suspends registration, or requires phase out of use,
of the pesticide. The bill would also prohibit a vendor or
manufacturer from making those pesticides available to a school
district either by sale or by gift.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The maintenance of a safe, clean, healthy environment for
pupils is essential to learning and is a goal of the state.
   (b) The use of toxic chemicals to control pests and weeds may
itself threaten pupil health and ability.
   (c) The National Education Association and numerous other national
and local public interest organizations support the reduction or
elimination of pesticide use in schools.
   (d) Pesticides contain toxic substances, many of which have a
detrimental effect on human health and the environment and, in
particular, have a developmental effect on children. Children are
more susceptible to hazardous impacts from pesticides than are
adults.
   (e) Information regarding the utilization of pesticides in schools
that have a conditional registration or an experimental use permit
is not maintained in a manner that is useful to the public, making it
difficult to assess and address the potential health and
environmental impact of their use in schools.
   (f) Historically, pesticide products that have conditional
registration or experimental use permits are sold and used for years
without completing outstanding data requirements. This significant
flaw can allow for chemicals with incomplete databases to be used in
schools, increasing undue exposure potential to pupils. 
   (g) Schools regularly endeavor to control and eliminate recognized
and suspected hazards, including nonagricultural pesticides, as an
integral part of school safety programs in order to protect the
health and well-being of pupils and school staff. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 17610.1 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   17610.1.  (a) (1) The use of a pesticide on a schoolsite is
prohibited if that pesticide is granted a conditional registration,
an interim registration, or an experimental use permit by the
Department of Pesticide Regulation  , or if the pesticide is
subject to an experimental registration issued by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency,  and either of the following is
applicable:
   (A) The pesticide contains a new active ingredient.
   (B) The pesticide is  intended for a new use 
 labeled for a new use t   hat is not approved for a
schoolsite. This paragraph does not apply to a conditionally
registered pesticide that is approved for other uses at a schoolsite
that has fulfilled all registration requirements that relate to human
health, including, but not limited to, the completion of mandatory
health effect studies pursuant to the Birth Defect Prevention Act of
1984 (Art. 14 (commencing with Sec. 13121), Ch. 2, Div. 7, F. 
 &   A.C.)  .
   (2) The use of a pesticide on a schoolsite is prohibited if the
Department of Pesticide Regulation cancels or suspends registration,
or requires phase out of use, of that pesticide.
   (b) Vendors or manufacturers of pesticides that are prohibited for
use on a schoolsite pursuant to subdivision (a) are prohibited from
furnishing those pesticides to school districts either by sale or by
gift. 
   (c) (1) This section does not apply to pesticides product uses
that have unconditional or full registration.   
   (2) This section does not apply to a pesticide that is granted a
conditional registration and is intended for a new use if that
pesticide was unconditionally or fully registered within 15 years
from the conditional registration, unless that registration has been
canceled or suspended, or that pesticide has been phased out of use.
 

   (c) This section does not apply to public health pesticides or
antimicrobial pesticides registered pursuant to Section 12836 of the
Food and Agriculture Code. 
                       

source: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_0401-0450/ab_405_bill_20050714_amended_sen.html 27jul2005

for updates: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_405&sess=CUR&house=B&author=montanez 27jul2005