New Rules Prevent Pesticides near Schools

2/21/2008 An Associated Press investigation found that 590 people in California were sickened by pesticides at schools from 1996 to 2005, more than a third of which were due to pesticide drift.

Scientists have linked some chemicals sprayed in the San Joaquin Valley to sickness, brain damage and birth defects.

The new rules prevent growers from spraying restricted use pesticides in a quarter-mile buffer zone around homes, labor camps and schools in session.