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Welcome to Parents for a Safer Environment

Current Events:

PfSE Annual Prioritizing Gathering and Party

Your Chance to Help Set Priorities:
Help set a date for this important annual gathering by October 22nd, this Thursday. Agenda is now open for your input and changes. RSVP & select dates.

Mark Calendar for Nov 10, 10-11:30 AM in Martinez
651 Pine St, County Admin Bldg

Please attend this important Contra Costa County Board of Supervisor meeting when they will vote on the proposed bylaws for allowing only 3 community members on the county's IPM Advisory Committee. We need folks to speak for adding equal number of community members on the county IPM Advisory Committee to balance out votes with county staff: a total of 5 community members.

Also, the IPM Coordinator will be presenting a county counsel's report with apparently incorrect assessments of legal ramifications upon adopting an IPM ordinance (law) to keep staff's work transparent and accountable. The IPM Coordinator has not and will not be recommending a least toxic pest management ordinance (law in place of our weak policy). We need numerous representatives from environmental and health groups and community members for this meeting. Please click here to rsvp for the Board meeting on Nov 10th morning or to offer sending an e-mail to the board members. You may view the proposed IPM policy here.

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

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 than all Santa Clara and San Francisco County Depts combined.
In addition, just Public Work Dept alone used 2,148 lbs of bad actor pesticide products in a recent 1 year period, much of it along creeks/flood control channels as compared to no bad actors used by the other two counties with Integrated Pest Management Ordinances (laws).
Some County staff, including the new IPM Coordinator is fighting 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!

Public Works Toxicity Table FY 08-09 [Word 2007 Doc]
Public Works Dept Graphs FY 08-09 [Excel 2007 doc]

Healthy Parks Summit in Orinda in a few weeks!

Save the Date for Nov 21st, 9:30 AM-5PM at 10 Irwin Way, Orinda Community Church. (walk from BART).
Been wanting to know how to get your local public parks to reduce or even eliminate toxic pesticides? Pick up tips from the veterans who have gone through the exercise in Marin, Sonoma, Sacramento, Contra Costa Counties, Moraga, among others! Come to help plan and get a state-wide initiative passed and learn how to get a policy passed in your own town/city/county.
Click here for agenda & register.

PfSE in News for Conducting "Goat" Trial

400 Goats Hired to Try as Alternative to Herbicides in Pinole Creek, West Contra Costa County.
In September, months of effort in grant writing, collaboration and negotiations with agencies resulted in a successful 2-day goat grazing demonstration at Pinole Creek site just adjacent to Collins Elementary School where kids play only 3 yards away. Water testing (in-kind analyses by Central Sanitary District) showed no significant fecal bacteria nor erosion problems although goats had full access to the creek for almost 2 days. County Public Works Dept staff has announced already that they will begin using goats in the future. This move will begin replacing some of the 5,000+ lbs of herbicides being sprayed along the 70 miles of flood control channels and creeks annually, even during rainy season. A 2004 San Francisco Estuary Institute Study concluded (pgs 35-41) that goats are more effective and at least 25% cheaper than herbicides for terrestrial weed control. PfSE hired a consultant to write a Review Paper of "lessons learned" by agencies around the U.S. regarding goat grazing near water bodies that should be finished by end of this month and assist in making future decisions.
The next phase of our study will monitor for herbicides after Public Works Dept sprays in a given creek and after at least an inch of rainstorm, which has not been done in the past. If you are interested in getting involved in this study, please contact Susan. We need someone to help with water sampling and conduct simple statistical analyses and modest funding is available.

Contra Costa Times Article
Press release sent out by PfSE [Word Document]

Children's Diseases Linked to Chemicals on the Rise

Chronic childhood diseases linked to exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment cost the U.S. almost $55 billion a year according to the panel of experts hosting the 3-day conference of the Children's Environmental Health Sciences Center, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Dr. Phillip Landrigan, Professsor and chairman of preventive medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, outlined the challenges facing those working to combat the rise of birth defects, asthma, neuro-developmental disorders and other major diseases of children in the United States and other industrial nations. "The environment is a powerful determinant of human health, and there's no group more vulnerable or susceptible to adverse influences in the environment than kids," Landrigan said explaining that children experience greater exposure to chemicals pound-for-pound than adults.
Dr. Landrigan said there are 3,000 high-volume chemicals used today; for roughly half, there is no basic toxicity information publicly available. "For the past six to eight years, national surveys have found these chemicals present in our blood and urine... they're routinely finding a whole suite of chemicals in everybody... cancer in children has been linked to exposure to radiation, solvents, paints and pesticides."

6 Building Materials to Avoid if Possible

  1. polyvinyl chloride
  2. volatile organic compounds
  3. phthalates
  4. heavy metals
  5. halogenated flame retardants
  6. perfluorocarbons
For information on common sources of these 6 chemicals found in our bodies and linked to chronic illnesses and also safer alternative resources, click below.

Health Building Materials Fact Sheet.
How to avoid polyvinyl chloride in common school supplies: PVC-free school guide from the CHEJ.

What Pesticides are on Conventionally Grown Food?

Check out this sobering database!
Pesticides are found on even washed produce and they get into our bodies. Find out what is on conventionally grown Food including dairy & meats and their corresponding toxicity. This database was created by the US EPA Award-winning group Pesticide Action Network, North America who compiled data from the USDA's Pesticide Data Program and cross referenced with EPA and other authoritative toxicology databases.

Click on the Food Name and Get the Data!

Breast Cancer Conference in Sausalito - no fee

6th Annual Early Environmental Exposures Meeting for Breast Cancer: November 19-20, hosted by the Breast Cancer & Environment Research Centers. Register here.
Sponsored by Natl Inst. Hlth Sci, Natl Cancer Inst, and Avon. We may be eligible for reimbursement for travel costs... contact Susan. See agenda for program topics. If you can't make it to the 1.2 day conference, experts will be holding a town hall meeting on November 18th evening from 7-9PM in Sausalito. Click here for info.

Likely Implications of Health Care Reform on Insurance Coverage in CA.

National Health Care Reform Will Help Four Million Uninsured Adults and Children in California according to a recent evaluation by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Reform Research.
If national health care reform is enacted, 93 percent of California's non-elderly population would have access to health insurance - a nearly 13 percentage point increase in statewide coverage. Not every Californian will be covered: the current proposals do not include people who either have incomes too high to qualify for public subsidies or do not qualify because of their citizenship status.


  1. Acalanes School District Applied Toxic Pesticides on Playing Fields in the Summer of 2009 after promising not to use these: Petition for a written IPM Policy here
  2. 2 for 1 Special on September 10th at Green Rheem Movie Night! Enjoy local wines, appetizers, and a great film with friends! Click here for more info.
  3. PfSE needs volunteers. Prefer a technical background either in law or in chemistry/toxicology/public health/environmental health but not necessary. We are submitting a few large proposals that may turn this position into a well paid position in 2010.
  4. PfSE is beginning to work with St Mary's College to adopt integrated pest management and is looking for a student intern to help with spreadsheet work.

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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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