Costs of Eliminating vs. Using Toxic Pesticides

Eliminating toxic pesticides saves:

• Novato Unified School District has saved $1,000 to $1,500 per year in chemicals alone since adopting least toxic Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

• Costs for pest management in Vista de las Cruces School in Santa Barbara went down from $1,740/year to $270 over two years.

• Placer Hills Union School District became a safer environment for both the students and staff at no extra cost after adopting a least toxic approach to pest control.

• Since 1995, the city of Santa Monica has saved up to 30 percent of their past annual spending on pest control by implementing IPM.

• Santa Ana Unified School District saved at least $25,000 for pest control after adopting IPM.

Using toxic pesticides costs:

• One of the most common acute effects of exposure to pesticides is asthma attacks. Asthma is the leading cause of children missing school. A child's asthma attack could cost a family $13,000 in emergency medical services. In California, the costs of asthma have been estimated at $720 million in direct medical expenditures and $544 million in lost school and work days, creating a total cost of $1.2 billion per year. More about pesticides and asthma.

• Female school teachers are experiencing higher rates of leukemia (28 percent) and lymphoma (47 percent) than the general population. Substitutes cost $120/day and decrease the quality of classroom instruction.

• Many school districts spray pesticides routinely on a calendar basis, without evidence of pest problems, which both costs money and poses an unnecessary health risk to students and school staff.