Phoebe Chang Chang is a third-year
history student. Tell her what you think and e-mail her at [email protected]. Click
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Ah, the sweet smell of raw sewage wafts through my windows on a
soft summer breeze. Our pipes exploded, and now we have
everything that was in them sitting in our parking lot. The paint
peeling in my bathroom contains lead that’s causing my brain
cells to deteriorate, and the fumes from the street are messing up
my lungs. I love L.A! At least I can escape to the pristine
environment of UCLA, where everything is clean and nice. But even
at UCLA I am confronted with hazards bombarding my well-being.
Miles Kitasaro, Grounds Supervisor of Facilities Management says
that poisonous chemicals are sprayed several times a week at UCLA.
Most of us don’t know about it. While we’re enjoying
the day lounging on the grass, toxic chemicals may be seeping into
our body and attacking our health. Pesticides sprayed on our campus
to keep it pest- and weed-free may have adverse effects on the
health of students, faculty and anyone repeatedly exposed to
them.
We may not have realized the risks, but other places already
have. The San Francisco and Los Angeles Unified School
Districts understand the risk of spraying pesticides and have
eliminated them from their schools.
According to Jerome Blondel of the Environmental Protection
Agency Pesticide Office, “No pesticide is safe. They’re
all designed to kill living organisms.” Yet insecticides,
herbicides and fungicides are commonly used in the United States
because they are convenient.
UCLA is a beautiful campus ““ I rarely see weeds, and the
only animals around are our fearless squirrels. But UCLA sprays
pesticides three times a week and uses a host of chemicals that may
induce symptoms such as sore throats and fevers, or more serious
symptoms such as joint pains or loss of coordination.
 Illustration by Edward Oyama
Many people on this campus may experience these symptoms but
never link them to pesticides. Just a few parts per trillion of
exposure may disrupt hormones in the body. The chemicals
sprayed remain in the soil, air, water or structures for lengthy
amounts of time. Herbicides take 900 days to break down, while
insecticides take 50 years and stay in the body indefinitely.
Pesticides are linked to childhood cancer, Non-Hodgkin’s
Lymphoma and Parkinson’s disease. They affect people of all
ages, but primarily children and the elderly. A recent study shows
that herbicides influence women as estrogen does since they may
cause breakthrough bleeding (irregular menstruation) lasting two to
three days in between menstrual cycles.
A 1992 study showed that men repeatedly exposed to an herbicide
had a two- to eight-fold increase of Non-Hodgkin’s
Lymphoma. The herbicide on which the study is focused is
sprayed here at UCLA. An outside contractor sprays it to kill
clover and dandelions twice a year.
Facilities management is considerate since they spray during the
breaks, while the students are gone, although the campus is far
from empty. They put up small yellow signs that say
“Poison” and take them away after a few days. Students
come back from spring break and lay out on the grass while being
exposed to dangerous substances.
Facilities management sprays three days a week at different
places on campus, using Roundup, the ingredients of which are
toxic. UCLA also uses nine other hazardous pesticides, all of which
contain irritants and some of which have carcinogens. Though UCLA
“rarely” uses the pesticide, it has sprayed Dursban, a
controversial neurotoxin.
But before we freak out and blame all our problems on
pesticides, we have to realize that association is not necessarily
causation. Because of the nature of the subject, it is difficult to
conduct controlled studies and definitely relate pesticides to
these problems.
But many components of pesticides are carcinogenic. The combined
effects of known carcinogens such as tobacco, alcohol and UV
radiation make cancer the second most common cause of
death. Let’s just add pesticides to the list of
carcinogens, which cause one out of four people in the U.S. to die
of cancer.
The question is then, if our health is in danger, why
don’t we ever hear about it? We are once again being fooled
by large corporate interests. On average, about 40 percent of a
chemical company’s income are derived from pesticides.
Chemical companies want to keep accusations against their products
as quiet as possible. Money is the bottom line.
Pesticides are easy, simple, cheap and profitable, while health
concerns cause more inconvenience.
Then why doesn’t UCLA do anything about it? Using
pesticides is cheaper and more convenient than other ways of pest
and weed management. If it used hand tools to get rid of weeds on
campus, Kitasaro said that Facilities Management would have to work
every month while the same area could be cleared of weeds for three
to four months with pesticides.
But should we make work as easy and efficient as possible to
ensure the well-being of everyone on this campus, including people
who currently work with or around the pesticides?
UCLA only uses EPA-approved substances that are regulated by the
County Agricultural Committee. But the EPA tests chemicals
individually and neglects to check the effects of simultaneous
exposure to multiple chemicals. Both Kitasaro and Dr. Greenwood of
Environment, Health & Safety at UCLA said that they don’t
believe that the amounts they spray are harmful enough to change
their maintenance practices.
But for the 40,000 students who are on this campus every day for
four years and the faculty and staff who have been on this campus
for 20 or 30 years, repeated daily exposure to minimal amounts of
chemicals may result in future illness.
We need to do more research, and until we find out that
pesticides do not harm people, we should stop using them. There are
alternative methods for landscape maintenance, such as machine
weeding and integrated pest management.
Next time you sit down on those beautiful lawns, think about it.
Is it worth it for UCLA to keep the campus so beautiful at the
expense of our health?