Our Kids Deserve Healthy Schools 

Dangerous chemicals like PFAS (aka “forever chemicals”)  have been making headlines as evidence accumulates about their presence in everything from water and clothing to cosmetics and food packaging, and their harmful effects on human and planetary health. The Environmental Protection Agency recently created stricter restrictions and testing of PFAS in drinking water, but it isn’t enough: we are awash in a chemical soup, with over 85,000 unregulated chemicals in use. 

There is little question that these chemicals play some part in the chronic disease we see sharply on the rise in American children. Forty-three percent of American children currently have at least one of 20 chronic health conditions (excluding obesity). One in 12 children has asthma, the leading chronic illness for children in the United States.

For too long, we have left the health and safety of our children in the hands of others, hoping that they’ll do the right thing. As parents, we can take steps to keep children safe from known environmental hazards in schools. Here is how. 

Provide Safe Water in Schools
School drinking water across the nation is testing positive for PFAS, pesticides, and heavy metals such as arsenic and lead. In July 2022, research partners at CALPIRG Education Fund released an interactive map showing schools across California, for example, with high lead levels in drinking water: 53% of reporting school districts tested positive for lead. There is no safe level of lead in children – even very low levels of exposure can cause learning, behavioral, and attention difficulties, as well as organ and nervous system damage. 

To guard against this problem, parents should send their children to school with safe water in lead-free aluminum, steel, or glass water bottles; these are better than plastic ones, which can leach phthalate chemicals into water. Before doing so, parents can check the quality of their water at home by viewing EWG’s drinking-water database. Parents should also ask to see a school district water-quality report and advocate for water filters or needed remediations. In California, for example, where I live, a proposed new law, California AB 249, would require extended testing for lead in school water pipes. 

Provide Healthy Food and Non-Toxic Foodware
In addition to safe water, we need to feed our children healthy, non-toxic foods at school. Many private schools around the country are starting to serve healthy, fresh organic and non-GMO foods. All children deserve this kind of care. 

Last year, Moms Across America tested the nutrient results of 43 school lunches gathered from public schools in 15 states. Of the samples, 95.3% contained carcinogenic, endocrine-disrupting, and liver-disease-causing glyphosate, 74% of the samples contained at least one of 29 harmful pesticides, and 100% contained heavy metals at levels up to 6,293 times higher than the EPA’s maximum levels allowed in drinking water. In addition, the majority of the samples were extremely low in nutrients. School food is a $16.3 billion federally funded program. Taxpayers can push for policy changes around nutrition standards, procurement, and food systems. 

The Center for Environmental Health is studying the use of PFAS in compostable school lunch trays and foodware because, sadly, many schools have unknowingly exposed children to toxic forever chemicals. You can send your child to school with food packaged in safe packaging (glass and stainless steel are best). Take a look at what is offered in your child’s school cafeteria. PTA and school board meetings are great places to learn more about public school lunch offerings and to advocate for the safest alternatives. At a minimum, we should be asking for food that is less processed, with fewer chemicals – and in safe packaging, too, as how food is stored and cooked is important. You can share this resource guide on better food-storage alternatives, and you can find tips on how to engage with your PTA on this issue, too.  

Provide Safe Schoolyards
Our children deserve safe places to play at school. In recent years, awareness has grown about the problems with crumb-rubber play surfaces created from used vehicle tires, which contain toxic, restricted-use chemicals that are known carcinogens, neurotoxins, and endocrine disruptors. Students are regularly exposed to these substances through inhalation, skin absorption, and accidental ingestion. More recently, the hazards of plastic grass or artificial turf fields are coming to light, and bans and moratoriums on such surfaces are emerging for city parks in places like Boston and around the country. PFAS are used in all plastic grass; from a climate and safety standpoint, synthetic turf fields are highly problematic, raising the risk of injury and heat stroke by 58%, and leaching PFAS into the soil and contaminating the water supply.

Promisingly, schools around the country are modeling how to maintain natural fields without toxic chemical inputs. You can inquire at your school board to see if any new synthetic tracks, play spaces, or fields are planned and educate school board and PTA members about the health and climate benefits of natural turf. Similarly, you can advocate for removing problematic installations. The ChildSafe School program offers additional resources. 

Other Opportunities for Significant Change
If we want healthy, vibrant, smart, and strong kids, we can start by providing healthy schools. Given the extent of the asthma problem, air quality on campus is extremely important. Schools can implement idle-free zones to reduce air pollution; any parent can suggest it to the PTA. In addition, planting trees not only cools down schoolyards but also helps filter and clear air as well. Districts in high-pollution and fire-prone areas should invest in high-quality air filtration systems; parents can crowdsource to help provide HEPA air filters in classrooms as needed. In some instances, Medicaid might cover classroom air filters for children with asthma. School districts can adopt safe procurement policies to ensure that carpets, cleaning products, hand sanitizers, and other items brought into schools are the safest possible. If we want healthier kids, we need to invest in safer school environments now.