Albany, NY -- Gov. David Paterson signed a bill this afternoon banning the use of pesticides on school athletic fields and day care playgrounds. Schools will have one year to stop applying pesticides on playing fields. They still will be able to use chemical treatments if a pest infestation breaks out. More than 18,000 people signed petitions in favor of...
Albany, NY -- Gov. David Paterson signed a bill this afternoon banning the use of pesticides on school athletic fields and day care playgrounds.
Schools will have one year to stop applying pesticides on playing fields. They still will be able to use chemical treatments if a pest infestation breaks out.
More than 18,000 people signed petitions in favor of the bill, which previously died in the Legislature nine times. Advocates cited scientific studies that show exposure to pesticides can increase children’s risk for cancer, exacerbate asthma and trigger seizures.
Chemical companies lobbied against the bill. They say pesticides are highly regulated by the state and federal governments and therefore are safe to use.
Schools will likely see a slight increase in cost during the first two years of switching from chemical to non-chemical treatments, but their annual cost should fall between 7 and 25 percent after the third year, according to a study by Grassroots Environmental Education, a nonprofit public health advocacy group in Nassau County.
Grassroots Environmental Education also has offered free training to school groundskeepers on ways to care for fields without pesticides.