The proposed rule also has touched a nerve in Congress, and several congressional hearings were scheduled for this spring to determine whether EPA is indeed mandated to regulate nonpoint sources.
Very little known about pesticide usage in schools Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) has asked EPA to immediately minimize pesticide exposures in schools and to conduct a pesticide usage survey. The request was prompted by a General Accounting Office (GAO) study concluding that little is known about pesticide use in elementary and high schools. In Pesticides: Use Effects and Alternatives to Pesticides in Schools, released in January, GAO documented 2300 pesticide exposures in schools from 1993 to 1996 and found that 329 of those individuals exposed required medical attention. Nonetheless, the figures are incomplete and unreliable because cases of pesticide exposure often go unreported, and outcomes are not known for more than 40% of the reported cases, according to GAO. Information on long-term illnesses linked to students' pesticide exposures is even limited the report notes EPA issued a statement welcoming the report when it was released on Jan. 4, but it had not responded to Lieberman's request as ES&T went to press in March. Earlier this year, the Senate passed legislation requiring schools to notify parents two days in advance of pesticide applications. EPA staffers said that the bill is not likely to become law this year. Lieberman's request was prompted by a 1998 Connecticut study, which found that pesticides were routinely sprayed on school grounds and in classrooms. Environment and Human Health, Inc. (EHHI), a nonprofit group of public health professionals based in New Haven, CT, found that 87% of the state's schools sprayed pesticides indoors. Close to one-third, or 32%, sprayed regularly, regardless of need. Some schools (12%) used school personnel not professional pesticide applicators to apply pesticides "We found that, because there were no legal requirements, pesticide usage was set by the business manager or the physical plant man-
ager," said Nancy Alderman, EHHI president. "If these managers are informed, alternatives to pesticides are used, but often they are not," she added. Last year, Connecticut passed a law requiring schools to develop a registry of parents who want to be notified when pesticides are applied. EPA and a number of states have taken steps over the past decade to reduce pesticide use in schools by employing alternative pest management strategies. Known collectively as integrated pest management (IPM), these involve first implementing preventive measures, such as keeping sandwiches out of desk drawers, said Elizabeth Lawder, a spokeswoman for Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE). Based in Washington DC RISE represents companies that produce agricultural pesticides. When a problem arises IPMs call for the least toxic control method possible For example ants would be controlled by first caulking cracks then laying ant traps and resorting to pesticides only when these methods failed At least six states—Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Texas, and West Virginia—mandate IPM use in schools. The GAO report is available at www.gao.gov/new.items/rc00017.pd..
Kids' chemical testing program under fire A proposed voluntary chemical testing program directed at children's safety has run into a snag. This month, EPA plans to host a third stakeholders' meeting to discuss a battery of tests designed to identify those chemicals that may present a health hazard to children. The meeting was delayed following strong and detailed criticisms of the tests from the very industry EPA hopes to sign up as volunteers. The Voluntary Children's Health Chemical Testing Program was kicked off by Vice President Al Gore on Earth Day 1998 as part of his three-pronged Chemical Right-toKnow initiative {Environ. Sci. Technol. 1998, 3 (6), 251A). At least one component of Gore's plan, the testing of high production volume (HPV) chemicals, has had great success. Of the 2800 HPV chemicals proposed for testing 300 have already been tested and companies have stepped up to voluntarily eval-
uate at least 2000 more, according to the Washington, DC-based Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA). One major area of disagreement, raised by CMA officials, is that the November version of EPA's testing scheme lacks a clear testing trigger, which would either allow a chemical to drop out of the testing battery or indicate that more sensitive tests were needed. This approach would be more efficient, which would free more resources to perhaps test more chemicals, said Sandra Tirey, CMA assistant vice president. EPA did not include a testing trigger in its November draft, partly because a panel of outside advisors last May declined from recommending a trigger approach because they did not have enough information, said Ward Penberthy, associate director of the chemical control division in the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. As a result, EPA had proposed that a chemical generating a positive response to any end point would undergo all of the tests in the next tier, said Penberthy. CMA has responded by hiring an outside contractor to review historical test data to determine whether die triggers proposed in CMA's scheme would have further evaluation indicated said Tirev Chemical makers are concerned about die extensive nature of the testing program, Tirey added. The manufacturers are not off base, said an EPA staffer working on the voluntary program. The HPV chemicals are undergoing basic toxicity screening tests, while the kids' safety program envisions a battery of more sensitive, more in-depth, and end point-specific tests. It is likely that the testing costs will be much higher in the kids program than in the HPV program the staffer said. Martin Stephens, vice president of animal research for the Washington, DC-based Humane Society of the United States, also has criticized EPA's program because of its reliance on animal tests. The Society doubts the testing will lead to regulatory action, such as taking certain chemicals out of production. EPA staff said they will meet individually with representatives from all stakeholder groups, including children's health and environmental advocates and other federal agencies, before revising the testing scheme.
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