Category
>> In The News
| Details
for Article |
| Date
Published |
8/27/2007 |
| Subject |
School Nurse Alert: Pests, Pesticides and Asthma |
| Description |
School nurses should be on the alert for pests and pesticide triggers for asthma. |
| Content |
Indoor air quality (IAQ) has a big effect on asthma sufferers, especially children who spend most of their time indoors at home and at school.
One component of indoor air quality includes levels of pests and pesticide use inside buildings. Concerns about rising asthma rates and other health issues have school nurses becoming more aware of the risks of pests and pesticides as asthma triggers in the school environment.
According to Rosemary Moyer, MSN, CRNP, a school health consultant at the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH), school nurses are required by the PA Department of Health Regulations (28 PA Code Chapter 23 School Health) to plan for environmental needs of the school. “School nurses are charged with advising school administrative, maintenance and sanitation personnel on changes needed in the environment to make schools healthy and safe places for students and staff,” she explained. School nurses must also determine how environmental impacts may affect student health and provide information to personnel and families of students. “Many people don’t realize pest infestations and pesticides used in schools and other urban dwellings can result in unhealthy indoor environments. This is especially problematic for people with asthma.”
The use of integrated pest management (IPM) can reduce both pest populations and the use of pesticides in school environments, both of which can be considered environmental contaminants. Pests themselves are sources of indoor air pollutants such as pest and animal dander, cockroach allergens and rodent droppings, most of which are documented asthma triggers. Using preventative practices and systematic monitoring of the school buildings and grounds, IPM can stop a pest infestation before it gets out of hand. The PDH Division of School Health staff work with school health consultants in six district offices, responding to school nurses’ needs. “The staff provides yearly trainings and updates for both new and current school nurses to provide them with the information they need to ensure a healthy school environment for both students and staff. IPM is included in these trainings, as all public schools in Pennsylvania are required by law to have an IPM plan in place to manage pests in school buildings and on school grounds”, says Moyer.
Moyer also encourages school nurses to participate in the Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture’s ChemSweep Pesticide Disposal Program in which the chemicals such as outdated pesticides are picked up for proper disposal. “Dangerous chemicals in schools are sometimes not safely or properly stored. This poses a threat to school students and staff alike,” said Moyer. For more information on the ChemSweep Program, see Web site
http://www.pested.psu.edu/pdaprog/chemsweep/
In addition, Moyer can be contacted at romoyer@state.pa.us For more information on IPM in schools, visit the Pennsylvania IPM Program’s Web site at The PA IPM program's Web site at http://www.paipm.org. By clicking on the "Schools" link, visitors also can download the updated IPM for Pennsylvania Schools, A How-To Manual. The link also leads to information about the school IPM effort in Pennsylvania and to educational materials from across the country. In addition, the site offers an interactive database to assist teachers with IPM background information, lesson plans and support materials from throughout the United States.
For self-evaluation of the indoor air quality components in your school, consult the excellent materials in the EPA’s Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Kit available free from EPA. Visit http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/actionkit.html for more information.
You can also call the Tools for Schools technical hotline 866-837-3721 with any specific issues you may have.
The Pennsylvania IPM program is a collaboration between the Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture aimed at promoting integrated pest management in both agricultural and urban settings. For more information, contact the program at (814) 865-2839, or Web site http://www.paipm.org.
To view our archived news releases, see Web site
http://paipm.cas.psu.edu/newsrelease.html.
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| Contact
Information |
Cathy Nardoza
Dept. of Entomology
Penn State University
cfn2@psu.edu
814-863-0604
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