Floor Care Essentials for a Clean and Healthy Learning Environment
February 19th, 2011
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Archive
Archive for February, 2011
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
February 8th, 2011
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Purpose: To test school drinking water for pesticide residues; data obtained will be used in risk assessments.
Background: Utilities serving schools and schools with wells fall under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) which requires that routine testing be performed for a number of chemical and biological contaminants. This required testing involves 23 pesticides for which EPA has established Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). In groundwater and surface water, pesticide degradation compounds, called metabolites, are often more prevalent and are at much higher concentrations than the parent pesticide. However, EPA does not currently require testing for these metabolites – only for the parent pesticide. This monitoring effort is an attempt to collect data on the prevalence of over 100 pesticide residues (parent pesticide and degradation products) at ultra-low levels (parts-per-trillion). The data from this project will be used for risk assessments of these chemicals to specifically address the drinking water component for children during their developmental years.
What is Involved: PDP requests to collect a sample of your school’s water (three 1-liter glass bottles). The sample will be sent via Federal Express, overnight, to the laboratory for analysis. This is a one-time effort. Confidential analytical results will be provided to your school administration. It takes roughly 90 days to receive results due to the number of analytes and the low levels being tested.
Cost: PDP is responsible for all costs. A sampling kit, overnight shipping fees, and the pesticide analyses are all covered by PDP. PDP asks only that the school allow a sample to be collected and tested. This is an opportunity to obtain data on compounds potentially present in water; these data would otherwise likely be cost-prohibitive for the school to obtain.
Participation: Participation in this monitoring effort is voluntary. Many of the compounds tested in this project EPA has not established an MCL. The data collected will be published in the PDP Annual Summary but school names will kept confidential and will not be released. Each school will be identified only by the State, followed by an arbitrary number (e.g., VA 5501).
Information: For more information about the Pesticide Data Program see www.ams.usda.gov/pdp or call (703) 330-2300.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Monitoring Programs Office
8609 Sudley Road, Suite 206
Manassas, VA 20110
For more information about school IPM, go to http://schoolipm.tamu.edu
Poster Contest Announcement
February 8th, 2011
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The Department of State Health Services Zoonosis Control Branch (http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/health/zoonosis/) is conducting the spring 2011 statewide “Rabies Awareness & Prevention Poster Contest” for K-8th grade. There are prizes provided by the Zach Jones Memorial Fund (http://www.zachjonesmemorial.org/). There will be one prize (a Nintendo DSi) for the top-ranking kindergarten poster; there will be a first, second, and third place prize for each age group (grades 1-2, 3-5 and 6-8). First prize for groups 3-5 & 6-8 will be an Xbox 360 with Kinect; 2nd prize will be an IPod Touch; 3rd prize will be a $50 Visa Gift Card. First Prize for the grades 1-2 group will be a Wii; 2nd prize will be a Nintendo DSi; 3rd prize will be a $50 Visa Gift Card.
Rabies is endemic in Texas. Skunks and bats are the most commonly affected species, and school grounds are the number one location in Texas for exposure to rabid bats. Bat bites are not always noticeable and many people are unaware that exposure to bats poses a risk. Most of these rabies exposures are preventable through education. Information about the contest can be downloaded from the DSHS Zoonosis Control website. You can view the winning posters submitted for the previous contests at this same site. Posters due April 8, 2011. Please contact us if you have any questions!
Bonny & Skip
Bonny C. Mayes, MA
Phone: (512) 458-7111, ext. 2888
Ernest “Skip” Oertli, DVM, PhD
Phone: (512) 458-7111, ext. 3306
Zoonosis Control Branch
Texas Department of State Health Services
Office Location T-813
FAX (512) 458-7454
Email: bonny.mayes@dshs.state.tx.us; ernest.oertli@dshs.state.tx.us