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Welcome to Parents for a Safer Environment

Current Events:
Onto Winning the Governor with your Help
SB 1157 (DeSaulnier), the bill that would finally require schools to curb pesticide usage and provide funding to schools to do so has gone to the Governor to be signed into law or vetoed by September 31st or as early as 1st week of September. So we need to mobilize and focus the next few weeks to move the Governor to the need of this bill. Time is of essence!
What you can do to help:

Plan a letter and card writing campaign for the Governor written by parents & children in your mom's group, girl and boy scouts or classroom.
Call into the Governor's office at 916-445-2841 and/or send an e-mail to support SB 1157 yourself. Don't worry, they just count your call, and will not ask about the bill.
Distribute an Action Alert if you belong to a group or organization. Or forward this one to your listserve and ask your Organizations to support it. For e-mailing, download this letter to copy/paste any portions into an e-mail. Try and make the first line orginal and you can keep the paragraphs you like. Keep all letters and calls concise and kind : ) Organizations should use logos to lend more weight.
Join us for the Press Conference at the State Capitol, date will be announced.. We need kids!
Let me know if you wish to volunteer and help with video making, acting, letter writing campaign, or contacting more organizations who can contact the Governor with their support for SB 1157. Share your ideas!

Maybe have your children call in to the Governor's office and say one simple sentence after some practice? They can add a line after you introduce your support for the bill.

I'm calling about SB 1157, the Healthy Schools Act. My name is ___ and I live in (city), CA. I urge the Governor to sign SB 1157, the Healthy Schools Act of 2010, into law to protect school children. (this is all you need to say)
SB 1157 would mandate least toxic pest management programs in all public schools K-12 and larger child care facilities (> 14 kids).
The CA Department of Pesticide Regulation's studies and data have shown that highly toxic pesticide usage in schools are rampant. (For more detailed info, see fact sheet or floor alert)
The Center for Disease Control & Prevention found that school aged children (6-11yrs old) have the highest levels of pesticides in their bodies compared to adults. We can't continue to place our most vulnerable population at risk to chronic illnesses.
Funds will be created by increasing fees on the pesticide industry and provided to schools and CA DPR to implement least toxic pest management.

Thank you for your help! Whether you're calling/e-mailing for yourself or on behalf or an organization, every contact will matter and gets listed by the Gov's staff as a support for the bill! Don't worry, they will not ask you questions.
Please forward this e-mail to everyone you know in CA who care about decreasing the growing rate of illnesses linked to pesticide exposure. Next, follow up with a phone call to at least 5 persons who are likely to act if contacted. We have an amazing opportunity to make a state level policy change to create schools where students and staff are not harmed unnecessarily!
Sincerely,
Susan JunFish
Parents for a Safer Environment
www.pfse.net
925-283-4609
p.s. If you care to make a donation to this unfunded work, please pledge here and send checks to PANNA with PfSE SB 1157 project written in the memo line.
Attn: Steve Scholl-Buckwald
49 Powell St, Suite 500
San Francisco, Ca 94102
(PfSE, as a grass-roots org, doesn't have a bank account and needs our partner's administrative help. PANNA does not finance PfSE's work. 95% of your donation will go to PfSE's work on SB 1157).
Fact Sheet SB 1157
SB 1157 Bill amended 8/20/10
Frequently Asked Questions, SB 1157
List of Formal Endorsers and Opposers to SB 1157

Thank You Everyone Who Called Assembly Members re SB 1157!
SB 1157 passed in the full Assembly Floor late yesterday afternoon, 47 Ayes, and 27 Nays! (We needed 41 to pass)
Now the bill goes to the Senate Floor for a "concurrence" to get their approval of changes to the bill that occurred in the Assembly, and then goes to the Governor as early as first week in September.
Governor will have to sign it into law or veto it by September 31st. So we need to mobilize and focus the next 2 weeks to move the Governor to the need of this bill. Time is of essence!
What you can do to help:

Plan a letter and card writing campaign for the Governor written by parents & children in your mom's group, girl and boy scouts or classroom.
Call into the Governor's office and/or send an e-mail to support SB 1157 yourself.
Distribute an Action Alert if you belong to a group or organization. Or forward this one to your listserve and ask your org's to support it.
For e-mailing, download this letter to copy/paste any portions into an e-mail. Try and make the first line orginal and you can keep the paragraphs you like. Keep all letters and calls concise and kind :) Organizations should use logos to lend more weight.
4. Let me know if you wish to volunteer and help with video making, acting, letter writing campaign, or contacting more organizations who can contact the Governor with their support for SB 1157. Share your ideas!

Maybe have your children call in to the Governor's office and say one simple sentence after some practice? They can add a line after you introduce your support for the bill.

I'm calling about SB 1157 (DeSaulnier). My name is ___ and I live in (city), CA. I urge Governor Schwarzenegger to sign SB 1157, the Healthy Schools Act of 2010, into law to protect school children. Thank you for looking out for us!
SB 1157 would mandate least toxic pest management programs in all public schools K-12 and larger child care facilities (> 14 kids).
The CA Department of Pesticide Regulation's studies and data have shown that highly toxic pesticide usage in schools are rampant. (For more detailed info, see fact sheet or floor alert)
The Center for Disease Control & Prevention found that school aged children (6-11yrs old) have the highest levels of pesticides in their bodies compared to adults. We can't continue to place our most vulnerable population at risk to chronic illnesses.
Funds will be created by increasing fees on the pesticide industry and provided to schools and CA DPR to implement least toxic pest management.

Thank you for your help! Whether you're calling/e-mailing for yourself or on behalf or an organization, every contact will matter and gets listed by the Gov's staff as a support for the bill!
Please forward this e-mail to everyone you know in CA who care about decreasing the growing rate of illnesses linked to pesticide exposure. We have an amazing opportunity to make a state level policy change to create schools where students and staff are not harmed unnecessarily!
Sincerely,
Susan JunFish
Parents for a Safer Environment
P.S. If you care to make a donation to this unfunded work, please pledge here and send checks to PANNA with PfSE SB 1157 project written in the memo line.
Attn: Steve Scholl-Buckwald
49 Powell St, Suite 500
San Francisco, Ca 94102
(PfSE, as a grass-roots org, doesn't have a bank account and needs our partner's administrative help. PANNA does not finance PfSE's work. 95% of your donation will go to PfSE's work on SB 1157).

Sunscreens: What is best to use and what to avoid
(join PfSE's "Comparison Study" where you get to use for free and compare one of 3 best rated safer sunscreens to yours. We need a dozen participants from Aug-Oct who will use the sunscreens at least 6 hours a week).
See list of recommendations

Contra Costa County IPM Advisory Committee Meeting

Click here to send a form letter: Ask for additional community seats that represent those who have a track record to protect public health and the environment and ask that 2 PfSE seats be designated on the County's IPM (integrated pest management) Advisory Committee. The CC County Board of Supervisors need not permission from the IPM Advisory Committee to add PfSE members or additional committee members! Ask them to make a swift move and simply change the bylaws to add more community members. Click here to send a form letter. If you amend it it your words, will be even better.

Please Have Every Adult in Household sign-on this Petition to Help Reduce Pesticide Usage

Decrease Pesticide Usage petition:

Sign petition by clicking here.

Contra Costa County Depts, although having reduced pesticide usage by average of ~ 45% since PfSE's involvement in 2006, still applies annually, over 7 times more pesticide products (all herbicides) than all Santa Clara and San Francisco County Depts combined. In addition, just Public Works Dept pesticide usage reports alone showed 15,700 lbs of pesticide products (all herbicides) applied in the past year, with 2,148 lbs being bad actor pesticide products in a recent 1 year period, much of it along creeks/flood control channels.
Neighboring counties with Integrated Pest Management Ordinances (laws) do not use broadcast spraying or bad actors along creeks and have buffer zones. Contra Costa County Public Works Dept can use 70+ feet booms to spray along Contra Costa County creeks and flood control channels. Wonder if that's why the the USGS found high levels of herbicides in the East and Central county creeks in a recent study? Herbicides being sprayed are hormone disruptors, possible human carcinogens, potential or known ground water contaminants, reproductive/developmental toxins and each one is toxic to a variety of water organisms (see toxicity info).
County staff in Depts that spray and the new IPM Coordinator have opposed the adoption of an ordinance to hold staff transparent and accountable. Please sign this quick petition that will be submitted to the County Board of Supervisors when at least 500 signatures are reached. Decrease Pesticide Usage Now!

St Marys College Broadcast spraying on Playing Fields

TruGreen ChemLawn is contracted to spray the playing fields and other grassy turf areas at St Marys College. Last year, the sprayer stated that "Tri-Power" was being sprayed, after wind took a wall of pesticide drift many yards from the targeted grass towards a group of children waiting for summer camp to begin. Tri-power contains: 40.42 % MCPA, 7.99% MCPP, and 3.97% Dicamba. In following days, children in the football camps were observed doing push-ups in the treated turf.
Dicamba is listed as a known human developmental toxin by the US EPA, and a potential groundwater contaminant (because it readily travels in water and breaks down slowly).
MCPA and MCPP are listed by the World Health Organization's IARC as possible human carcinogens (cancer causing). MCPP is listed as a potential ground water contaminant.
Researchers now agree that with cancer causing agents and hormone disruptors, there may be no safe level of exposure. These chemicals simply should be not used so liberally nor where people can come into contact with them.
If you are interested in sending a message to St Mary's College to adopt a written IPM policy and implement least toxic pest control, please e-mail us so we can contact you for a future letter and meeting with the school.
Yours,
Susan JunFish, MPH
Director PfSE
junfish @ gmail. com
925- 283 -4609
*******
PfSE has also delineated a funding request to our community members who support our work. Click here to review and consider donating for our various projects and organizational support needs. All donations are completely tax-deductible.
PfSE meets every 3rd Thursday of the month in Moraga, at the home of the Director.
Background:
Parents for a Safer Environment (PfSE), a grass-roots organization, was formed after parents witnessed children being exposed to serious environmental hazards in Childcare Facilities in the Fall of 2002. A steering committee of parent volunteers from Moraga, Lafayette, Richmond, El Cerrito, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, and Martinez, and an Advisory Board of health and technical experts work to bring awareness of environmental hazards and solutions to the community. We invite others to join us. Learn more about us here!
Advisory Board
Contact: Director, Susan JunFish, MPH
junfish@ gmail dot com
(925) 283-4609
Jobs available for scientists, editors, and those interested in protecting public health and the environment.
Acknowledgements:
Website designer and gatekeeper: Diana Chernikova (dchernikova at gmail dot com)

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Welcome!
Home Background Pesticides Current Projects & Committees Environmental Hazards in Schools Press and News Releases Recipes for Safer Cleaning Recommended Businesses Environmental Topics Related Websites Donations Jobs Available Advisory Board	Welcome to Parents for a Safer Environment Current Events: Onto Winning the Governor with your Help SB 1157 (DeSaulnier), the bill that would finally require schools to curb pesticide usage and provide funding to schools to do so has gone to the Governor to be signed into law or vetoed by September 31st or as early as 1st week of September. So we need to mobilize and focus the next few weeks to move the Governor to the need of this bill. Time is of essence! What you can do to help: Plan a letter and card writing campaign for the Governor written by parents & children in your mom's group, girl and boy scouts or classroom. Call into the Governor's office at 916-445-2841 and/or send an e-mail to support SB 1157 yourself. Don't worry, they just count your call, and will not ask about the bill. Distribute an Action Alert if you belong to a group or organization. Or forward this one to your listserve and ask your Organizations to support it. For e-mailing, download this letter to copy/paste any portions into an e-mail. Try and make the first line orginal and you can keep the paragraphs you like. Keep all letters and calls concise and kind : ) Organizations should use logos to lend more weight. Join us for the Press Conference at the State Capitol, date will be announced.. We need kids! Let me know if you wish to volunteer and help with video making, acting, letter writing campaign, or contacting more organizations who can contact the Governor with their support for SB 1157. Share your ideas! Maybe have your children call in to the Governor's office and say one simple sentence after some practice? They can add a line after you introduce your support for the bill. I'm calling about SB 1157, the Healthy Schools Act. My name is ___ and I live in (city), CA. I urge the Governor to sign SB 1157, the Healthy Schools Act of 2010, into law to protect school children. (this is all you need to say) SB 1157 would mandate least toxic pest management programs in all public schools K-12 and larger child care facilities (> 14 kids). The CA Department of Pesticide Regulation's studies and data have shown that highly toxic pesticide usage in schools are rampant. (For more detailed info, see fact sheet or floor alert) The Center for Disease Control & Prevention found that school aged children (6-11yrs old) have the highest levels of pesticides in their bodies compared to adults. We can't continue to place our most vulnerable population at risk to chronic illnesses. Funds will be created by increasing fees on the pesticide industry and provided to schools and CA DPR to implement least toxic pest management. Thank you for your help! Whether you're calling/e-mailing for yourself or on behalf or an organization, every contact will matter and gets listed by the Gov's staff as a support for the bill! Don't worry, they will not ask you questions. Please forward this e-mail to everyone you know in CA who care about decreasing the growing rate of illnesses linked to pesticide exposure. Next, follow up with a phone call to at least 5 persons who are likely to act if contacted. We have an amazing opportunity to make a state level policy change to create schools where students and staff are not harmed unnecessarily! Sincerely, Susan JunFish Parents for a Safer Environment www.pfse.net 925-283-4609 p.s. If you care to make a donation to this unfunded work, please pledge here and send checks to PANNA with PfSE SB 1157 project written in the memo line. Attn: Steve Scholl-Buckwald 49 Powell St, Suite 500 San Francisco, Ca 94102 (PfSE, as a grass-roots org, doesn't have a bank account and needs our partner's administrative help. PANNA does not finance PfSE's work. 95% of your donation will go to PfSE's work on SB 1157). Fact Sheet SB 1157 SB 1157 Bill amended 8/20/10 Frequently Asked Questions, SB 1157 List of Formal Endorsers and Opposers to SB 1157 Thank You Everyone Who Called Assembly Members re SB 1157! SB 1157 passed in the full Assembly Floor late yesterday afternoon, 47 Ayes, and 27 Nays! (We needed 41 to pass) Now the bill goes to the Senate Floor for a "concurrence" to get their approval of changes to the bill that occurred in the Assembly, and then goes to the Governor as early as first week in September. Governor will have to sign it into law or veto it by September 31st. So we need to mobilize and focus the next 2 weeks to move the Governor to the need of this bill. Time is of essence! What you can do to help: Plan a letter and card writing campaign for the Governor written by parents & children in your mom's group, girl and boy scouts or classroom. Call into the Governor's office and/or send an e-mail to support SB 1157 yourself. Distribute an Action Alert if you belong to a group or organization. Or forward this one to your listserve and ask your org's to support it. For e-mailing, download this letter to copy/paste any portions into an e-mail. Try and make the first line orginal and you can keep the paragraphs you like. Keep all letters and calls concise and kind :) Organizations should use logos to lend more weight. 4. Let me know if you wish to volunteer and help with video making, acting, letter writing campaign, or contacting more organizations who can contact the Governor with their support for SB 1157. Share your ideas! Maybe have your children call in to the Governor's office and say one simple sentence after some practice? They can add a line after you introduce your support for the bill. I'm calling about SB 1157 (DeSaulnier). My name is ___ and I live in (city), CA. I urge Governor Schwarzenegger to sign SB 1157, the Healthy Schools Act of 2010, into law to protect school children. Thank you for looking out for us! SB 1157 would mandate least toxic pest management programs in all public schools K-12 and larger child care facilities (> 14 kids). The CA Department of Pesticide Regulation's studies and data have shown that highly toxic pesticide usage in schools are rampant. (For more detailed info, see fact sheet or floor alert) The Center for Disease Control & Prevention found that school aged children (6-11yrs old) have the highest levels of pesticides in their bodies compared to adults. We can't continue to place our most vulnerable population at risk to chronic illnesses. Funds will be created by increasing fees on the pesticide industry and provided to schools and CA DPR to implement least toxic pest management. Thank you for your help! Whether you're calling/e-mailing for yourself or on behalf or an organization, every contact will matter and gets listed by the Gov's staff as a support for the bill! Please forward this e-mail to everyone you know in CA who care about decreasing the growing rate of illnesses linked to pesticide exposure. We have an amazing opportunity to make a state level policy change to create schools where students and staff are not harmed unnecessarily! Sincerely, Susan JunFish Parents for a Safer Environment P.S. If you care to make a donation to this unfunded work, please pledge here and send checks to PANNA with PfSE SB 1157 project written in the memo line. Attn: Steve Scholl-Buckwald 49 Powell St, Suite 500 San Francisco, Ca 94102 (PfSE, as a grass-roots org, doesn't have a bank account and needs our partner's administrative help. PANNA does not finance PfSE's work. 95% of your donation will go to PfSE's work on SB 1157). Sunscreens: What is best to use and what to avoid (join PfSE's "Comparison Study" where you get to use for free and compare one of 3 best rated safer sunscreens to yours. We need a dozen participants from Aug-Oct who will use the sunscreens at least 6 hours a week). See list of recommendations Contra Costa County IPM Advisory Committee Meeting Click here to send a form letter: Ask for additional community seats that represent those who have a track record to protect public health and the environment and ask that 2 PfSE seats be designated on the County's IPM (integrated pest management) Advisory Committee. The CC County Board of Supervisors need not permission from the IPM Advisory Committee to add PfSE members or additional committee members! Ask them to make a swift move and simply change the bylaws to add more community members. Click here to send a form letter. If you amend it it your words, will be even better. Please Have Every Adult in Household sign-on this Petition to Help Reduce Pesticide Usage Decrease Pesticide Usage petition: Sign petition by clicking here. Contra Costa County Depts, although having reduced pesticide usage by average of ~ 45% since PfSE's involvement in 2006, still applies annually, over 7 times more pesticide products (all herbicides) than all Santa Clara and San Francisco County Depts combined. In addition, just Public Works Dept pesticide usage reports alone showed 15,700 lbs of pesticide products (all herbicides) applied in the past year, with 2,148 lbs being bad actor pesticide products in a recent 1 year period, much of it along creeks/flood control channels. Neighboring counties with Integrated Pest Management Ordinances (laws) do not use broadcast spraying or bad actors along creeks and have buffer zones. Contra Costa County Public Works Dept can use 70+ feet booms to spray along Contra Costa County creeks and flood control channels. Wonder if that's why the the USGS found high levels of herbicides in the East and Central county creeks in a recent study? Herbicides being sprayed are hormone disruptors, possible human carcinogens, potential or known ground water contaminants, reproductive/developmental toxins and each one is toxic to a variety of water organisms (see toxicity info). County staff in Depts that spray and the new IPM Coordinator have opposed the adoption of an ordinance to hold staff transparent and accountable. Please sign this quick petition that will be submitted to the County Board of Supervisors when at least 500 signatures are reached. Decrease Pesticide Usage Now! St Marys College Broadcast spraying on Playing Fields TruGreen ChemLawn is contracted to spray the playing fields and other grassy turf areas at St Marys College. Last year, the sprayer stated that "Tri-Power" was being sprayed, after wind took a wall of pesticide drift many yards from the targeted grass towards a group of children waiting for summer camp to begin. Tri-power contains: 40.42 % MCPA, 7.99% MCPP, and 3.97% Dicamba. In following days, children in the football camps were observed doing push-ups in the treated turf. Dicamba is listed as a known human developmental toxin by the US EPA, and a potential groundwater contaminant (because it readily travels in water and breaks down slowly). MCPA and MCPP are listed by the World Health Organization's IARC as possible human carcinogens (cancer causing). MCPP is listed as a potential ground water contaminant. Researchers now agree that with cancer causing agents and hormone disruptors, there may be no safe level of exposure. These chemicals simply should be not used so liberally nor where people can come into contact with them. If you are interested in sending a message to St Mary's College to adopt a written IPM policy and implement least toxic pest control, please e-mail us so we can contact you for a future letter and meeting with the school. Yours, Susan JunFish, MPH Director PfSE junfish @ gmail. com 925- 283 -4609 ***** PfSE has also delineated a funding request to our community members who support our work. Click here to review and consider donating for our various projects and organizational support needs. All donations are completely tax-deductible. PfSE meets every 3rd Thursday of the month in Moraga, at the home of the Director. Background: Parents for a Safer Environment (PfSE), a grass-roots organization, was formed after parents witnessed children being exposed to serious environmental hazards in Childcare Facilities in the Fall of 2002. A steering committee of parent volunteers from Moraga, Lafayette, Richmond, El Cerrito, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, and Martinez, and an Advisory Board of health and technical experts work to bring awareness of environmental hazards and solutions to the community. We invite others to join us. Learn more about us here! Advisory Board Contact: Director, Susan JunFish, MPH junfish@ gmail dot com (925) 283-4609 Jobs available for scientists, editors, and those interested in protecting public health and the environment. Acknowledgements:** Website designer and gatekeeper: Diana Chernikova (dchernikova at gmail dot com)
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