Schwarzenegger Signs Montañez & California Safe Schools Bill
No experimental chemicals on K-12 public schools; kids & teachers are not lab rats.
Sacramento, CA (PRWEB) October 19, 2005
Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 405, authored by California Assemblymember Cindy Montañez and sponsored by California Safe Schools, that halts the use of experimental pesticides on K-12 public school campuses. Pesticides contain toxic substances, including many that have a detrimental impact on human health, the environment and can have a developmental effect on children.
"With the Governor's signature, he recognized what we've been saying all along: Our students and school employees are not guinea pigs or test subjects for experimental pesticides and weed killers," said Montañez (D-San Fernando). "Schools should be laboratories of learning, not test sites for chemical companies."
Los Angeles Unified School District officials have already committed to implementing the measures required by AB 405 and currently employ significant policies to protect students from chemical exposures.
"Aside from disrupting the immune and reproductive systems, kids can be impacted neurologically -- ironically harming their ability to learn in the institution they are sent to be educated," said Robina Suwol, Executive Director of California Safe Schools, the bill's sponsor. "The fact that threshold levels of pesticide exposure and health studies are currently based solely on an adult male of approximately 160 pounds underscore that children are counting on adults to protect them. With the signature of AB 405, we have taken a step toward fulfilling that responsibility."
The bill's long list of endorsers included the California Medical Association, California State PTA, California School Boards Association,
California Teachers Association, Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America, Los Angeles Unified School District, Learning & Disabilities Association of America, Sierra Club, California League of Conservation Voters, and the Environmental Health and
Environmental Justice Community.
For further information:
Michael Mendez, Office of Assemblymember Cindy Montanez 916-319-2551
Robina Suwol, Executive Director of California Safe Schools www. calisafe. org 818-785-5515
###
