IRVINE – For Laurie Thompson, it was finding out about families in the neighborhood whose children, like her daughter, were struck with a rare cancer.
For Ayn Craciun, it was experiencing a series of inexplicable miscarriages.
For Kathleen Hallal, it was dealing with her children’s autoimmune issues.
The three women and other Irvine parents concerned about the possible effects of pesticides on children’s health last year formed Non Toxic Irvine, an advocacy group pushing to end the use of synthetic chemicals to manage weeds and pests citywide.
On Tuesday, they will ask the Irvine City Council to ditch synthetic chemicals in favor of organic pesticides for the city’s 570-odd acres of parks and fields, 800-plus acres of public right-of-way, 70,000 trees and nearly 1.5 million square feet of facilities.
“A lot of people don’t pay attention, but when your kids get sick, you start looking around,” Hallal said.
“Kids are exposed to so many chemicals now, even in the womb,” she said. “We feel like in order to fight dandelions, to add to that chemical mix is a poor choice.”
Craciun, who lives in Irvine’s Quail Hill subdivision, said the master homeowners association there has switched to organic methods instead of sprays with glyphosate, the active ingredient in many herbicides, like agriculture giant Monsanto’s top-selling weedkiller, Roundup. Some other HOAs have followed suit.
After meetings with Non Toxic Irvine board members, Irvine Unified stopped using Roundup and, after visiting Los Angeles Unified School District to learn about its stringent pesticide-use policy, set up a pilot program using organic methods only at Plaza Vista K-8 School.
Member Kim Konte was an enthusiastic advocate for a running club at Canyon View Elementary School – until she found out the school’s oval track was regularly burned into the grass using weedkiller.
Working with Principal Christina Giguiere and Nancy Collins, a teacher on special assignment with the school, the running club used plastic markers donated by Konte to mark the track to be mowed instead.
Those are the kind of collaborative changes the Non Toxic Irvine group hopes to spur, members said.
Last year, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as “probably” carcinogenic to humans.
However, in an email, Monsanto spokeswoman Charla Lord said that “in evaluations spanning four decades, the overwhelming conclusion of experts worldwide has been that glyphosate, when used according to label directions, does not present an unreasonable risk of adverse effects to humans, wildlife or the environment,” she said.
In November, the European Food Safety Authority concluded glyphosate is “unlikely” carcinogenic to humans, she added.
Better safe than sorry, say Non Toxic Irvine members, who want their city to become a model for others.
The Irvine council will discuss implementing organic methods at the 4 p.m. meeting.
“I want kids to play in the dirt and roll in the grass,” Konte said. “These chemicals are for weed control; it’s cosmetic. That’s what’s heartbreaking.”
Contact the writer: sdecrescenzo@ocregister.com
