[CPEO-BIF] New report on schools and contamination

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The Child Proofing Our Community Campaign, affiliated with the Center
for Health, Environment and Justice, has just released a report,
"Creating Safe Learning Zones: Invisible Threats, Visible Actions" about
the large number of schools in the United States built on or near
hazardous waste sites. The executive summary begins: 


Children are powerless against many dangers in school and out, and they
look to adults for protection. However, decisions that adults make on a
daily basis frequently imperil our nation’s children.New schools are
being built on or near chemically-contaminated land or near industrial
facilities with toxic emissions that contaminate children’s air, water,
land, and food supply.

There is growing evidence that these chemical exposures - these
invisible threats - diminish the health and intellect of our
children.Research has revealed increasing numbers of children afflicted
with asthma, cancers, lower IQs, and learning disabilities that impede
their ability to develop their full potential. From birth, children are
exposed to toxic chemicals in many ways that contribute to this
increased incidence of disease. Public schools built on or near
contaminated land are one potential source of chemical exposure.

Children are especially vulnerable to exposure to toxic chemicals.
During a critical period of their growth and development, children spend
a large part of their day at school. To needlessly place them in
settings that heighten their risk of disease or hyperactivity or lower
IQ is therefore irresponsible, especially in light of recent health
statistics that document increased incidence of childhood cancer and disease.

While laws compel children to attend school, there are - astoundingly -
no guidelines or laws in place that compel school districts to locate
school buildings on property that will protect the school population
from environmental health and safety risks. California is the only state
that has some regulations and an assessment process for the building of
new schools. Consequently, parents are forced to send their children to
some schools that pose a threat to their children’s health and abilities
to learn.

This report is the outcome of a nationwide effort to eliminate practices
that place children at risk from chemicals in their environment -
particularly schools, parks, and playgrounds. The Child Proofing Our
Communities Campaign is the beginning of a long-term collaborative
venture among many groups concerned about children’s environmental
health to eliminate, where possible, chemical exposure in schools and
our communities and to provide a safe and healthy environment to learn
and play.

...


For an electronic version of the report, see
http://www.childproofing.org/cslzindex.html

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
lsiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org