Pesticide Industry Group
RISE Communication
Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has asked the Department
to share with school administrators the following information. In September, a
pesticide industry group known as RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound
Environment) wrote to more than 20,000 school facilities managers nationwide,
including those in New York State. The materials distributed by RISE promote
pesticide use with deceptive claims and irrelevant anecdotes about the health
and environmental impacts of pesticides.
The Attorney General wants you to be fully informed of the correct
information so that you can make pest control decisions to best protect the
health of students, staff and visitors.
While ostensibly promoting Integrated Pest Management
(IPM) at schools, the materials sent by RISE actually encourage continued
excessive reliance on pesticides by schools.
This central role for pesticides runs contrary to the positions of the
Department, the Attorney General’s office and countless other governmental
and citizens’ groups. However, it is understandable that RISE advocates this
role, given that its mission, as set forth at its web site, is to: (1) provide
a strong unified voice for the specialty pesticide industry, (2) positively
influence public opinion and policy; and (3) promote the use of industry
products. (See the following web
site, http://www.acpa.org/rise/intro.htm.,
and note that this is not the RISE web site to which recipients of the RISE
letter were directed.)
In
advocating pesticide use, RISE makes numerous deceptive safety or irrelevant
claims. For instance, the claim
that “pesticides pose no risk to the health of children or adults when used
according to label instructions” is not only false, but is specifically
prohibited by federal regulations from appearing on the label of any pesticide
product. The reference to the
West Nile virus in New York City is largely irrelevant to school settings,
given that the virus victims were elderly, and transmission is believed to
have occurred in the evening during the summer.
Similarly, the malaria reference is irrelevant given no infected
mosquitoes were ever found.
The Attorney General is concerned that RISE’s mailing
will be relied upon by school facilities managers and administrators, and that
its deceptive claims might be repeated to parents, students and school staff.
Last last spring, the Attorney General released a report, Pesticide Use
At New York Schools: Reducing the Risk. That
report discusses the risk of pesticide use at schools and offers a model pest
management policy for schools. (Other
reports from the Attorney General released las spring might also prove useful
and are available at http://www.oag.state.ny.us.
Print copies can be obtained by calling (518) 486-9750)
While the public should not simply accept the risks
associated with severe infestations at schools, it is not necessary to expose
our children to highly toxic substances in the name of pest control.
Properly planned and implemented IPM programs can serve to control
pests without introducing toxic materials into the school environment.
