Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

EPA Awards $500,000 to Help Reduce Children's Exposure to Pesticides

  • 03/17/16

Atlanta — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced two grants to help reduce students’, teachers’ and staffs’ exposure to pests and pesticides in our nation’s schools, while saving money, energy and pesticide treatment costs.

“Children are among the most vulnerable members of our society, and EPA is working to protect them from needless threats,” said Jim Jones, assistant administrator for the office of chemical safety and pollution prevention. “Our goal is to have schools across the nation implement sustainable pest management practices to provide a healthier learning environment for our students and teachers.”

Integrated pest management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to controlling pests that focuses on prevention. This program is designed to utilize all appropriate pest management strategies, including the judicious use of pesticides.

These strategies include repairing water leaks, adding weather stripping to windows, and installing door sweeps. The result is a reduction in pest problems, pesticide use, and treatment costs along with water and energy savings. The IPM approach emphasizes removing the underlying conditions for pest to thrive.

The two projects that received awards are:

NEHA Mentorship Program for Developing School IPM Capabilities-- National Environmental Health Association, $241,000

This project will promote effective and environmentally sensitive pest management practices in schools through an intensive mentorship program between local health departments and underserved school districts. The mentorship program, pairing local health departments with school districts, will provide increased access to technical resources, and partnerships. This project will take place in 2016 and 2017.

Keeping the Pests Out: The Economics of Integrated Pest Management in Schools – Health Resources in Action, $300,000

This project will examine the costs and benefits of implementing school IPM activities. Currently, there are only a few studies about the economics of school IPM. This project will help school districts understand the costs and benefits associated with establishing and sustaining IPM programs. The results of this two-year project will be available in early 2018.

IPM is a smart, sensible, and sustainable approach that takes advantage of all appropriate pest management strategies, including the judicious use of pesticides.

These projects support EPA’s vision that all of the nation’s students can attend schools with IPM programs.

For more information on EPA’s School IPM program, visit: www2.epa.gov/managing-pests-schools.

For more on these grants, visit: www.epa.gov/managing-pests-schools/school-integrated-pest-management-ipm-grants

Featured

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.

  • Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

    Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.

  • Q&A: How to Prevent Kitchen Grease Fires in Commercial Kitchens

    School cafeterias and university dining halls serve thousands of meals daily, relying on high-heat equipment like fryers, grills, and ovens. While these operations keep students fed, they also generate significant grease-laden vapors. Without proper controls, this grease becomes a silent fire threat. As a certified exhaust cleaning specialist and business coach who has helped hundreds of institutional facilities achieve NFPA 96 compliance, I emphasize that proactive grease management isn’t optional; it’s a core fire/life safety practice.

  • Tomball ISD Opens New Tomball West High School

    Tomball Independent School District in Tomball, Texas, recently celebrated the official opening of Tomball West High School, the district's third comprehensive high school, with a community ribbon-cutting ceremony, according to a district news release.