United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-11-29 monographic deposited born digital 22 p. GA 1.13:RCED-00-17 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-17 P0b002ee18038bf86 f:rc00017 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-17 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-17 RCED-00-17 Pesticides Pesticide regulation Safety standards Health hazards Public schools Data collection Labeling law Reporting requirements State law Federal/state relations EPA Pesticide Program Louisiana New York EPA Integrated Pest Management Program Letter Report RCED Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the use of pesticides in schools, focusing on: (1) what federal requirements govern the use of pesticides in schools; (2) what information exists on the use of pesticides in schools; (3) what data exist on the incidences of short- and long-term illnesses linked to the exposure to pesticides in schools, and to the extent data are available, what does this data show; and (4) what actions are the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states taking, where appropriate, to reduce the use of pesticides in schools, and what are the results of their efforts.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act regulates the use of pesticides in the United States, but there are no specific provisions in the law about the use of pesticides in schools; (2) EPA will register a pesticide, thereby permitting its sale and distribution, if it determines that the pesticide will not generally cause unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the environment; (3) registration decisions are based in part on studies of the pesticides' effects and toxicity, some of which are designed to assess the risks to infants and children; (4) the law requires that regardless of where they are used, pesticides be used only as directed by their labels; (5) over 3,000 pesticide labels include provisions applicable to how, when, and where the pesticides can be used in schools, but these provisions do not generally afford any greater or lesser protection for school children than other groups; (6) comprehensive nationwide information on the amount of pesticides used in the nation's 110,000 public schools is not available; (7) the federal government has not collected such data, and only one state, Louisiana, requires its school districts to specifically report the amount of pesticides used; (8) one other state, New York, requires commercial applicators to report information on the amount of pesticides they used and the locations where they used it; (9) neither of these states has yet to analyze the data collected; (10) six other states require commercial applicators to report the amounts of pesticides they use, but the reported information does not identify where the pesticides were used; (11) data on short- and long-term illnesses linked to pesticide exposure are limited; (12) information from the American Association of Poison Control Centers shows that from 1993 through 1996, about 2,300 pesticide-related exposures involving individuals at schools were reported; (13) however, there are questions about the completeness and reliability of these data because some cases are not reported and outcomes are not known for over 40 percent of reported cases; (14) EPA and a number of states have taken initiatives to reduce the use of pesticides in schools by employing alternative pest management strategies; (15) EPA has been active in encouraging schools to adopt integrated pest management since the early 1990's; and (16) six states have enacted laws mandating integrated pest management in their schools. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-17/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-17.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-17/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-17.pdf GAO/RCED-00-17 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-17 Letter Report GAO/RCED-00-17; Pesticides: Use, Effects, and Alternatives to Pesticides; Pesticides Pesticide regulation Safety standards Health hazards Public schools Data collection Labeling law Reporting requirements State law Federal/state relations EPA Pesticide Program Louisiana New York EPA Integrated Pest Management Program