Diazinon can be legally sold for use in schools for four more years. An agreement with manufacturers allowing the slow phase out of school and homeowner uses puts the public at prolonged risk of exposure. EPA s own studies clearly recognize the dangers posed to children, often putting risks associated with continued use at many times the acceptable margin of exposure. In the absence of a recall by the EPA of Dursban and diazinon, schools should immediately discontinue use of all organophosphate insecticides, and implement least toxic integrated pest management. Other pesticide health hazards Epidemiology has indicated striking correlations between home and garden pesticide use and childhood leukemia.
Some studies indicate a link between certain indoor pesticides and brain cancer in children.
Recent animal experiments with very low levels of commonly used herbicides and nitrates indicate that combinations of these substances can induce learning and behavior problems at extremely low rates of exposure. These so-called inerts include solvents, emulsifiers and surfactants, many of which are regulated as toxic contaminants under workplace exposure laws but not regulated when included in pesticide formulas. Many routes of pesticide exposure for children Children can be exposed to pesticides in many ways, including by breathing vapors or dusts, absorbing residues through their skin, or ingesting residues by hand to mouth contact. And exposures for fat-soluble chlorinated hydrocarbons are cumulative they add up. They slowly concentrate in a child s body fat and intertwine with growth and development.