They could become their own case study

By adamg on Fri, 04/11/2008 - 9:11am

BU Medical Campus wisely decided to spray the lawn with pesticides the day before the first sunny, warm spring day. Did the nasty smell and the little yellow signs stop people from playing, picnicing, and lying out on the grass? Of course not.

Why are we spraying the lawn with these things, exactly? Isn't there a School of Public Health and a School of Medicine on this campus? You'd think we'd know better than this.

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BUSPH

By SwirlyGrrl on Fri, 04/11/2008 - 9:58am.

Yes, the people in the school of public health really hate this in their "space". I know several that have done extensive research on pesticides and one of my extramural advisors was on the Agent Orange panel for the National Academies.

Unfortunately, it's a small school in a large university that still bears the marks of iron-fisted overrule, belittlement, and interference from the larger administration, particularly when reality and science conflicted with what they thought everyone should believe. Thus the continued pesticide spraying that other universities have been avoiding as of late (check out the Organic Playing Field at Tufts sometime - corner of Powderhouse and College Ave.).

Thanks for sharing that info

By Anonymous on Fri, 04/11/2008 - 12:04pm.

Thanks for sharing that info SwrlyG; about BU SPH and Tufts organic playing field.

Beyond health consideration, lawns require an excess of fresh water, (typically) chemical fertilizer, and chemical pesticides. I gotta believe landscape architects have come up with sustainable alternatives.

Do you know if any research has been done on exposure to field turf fields made of recycled auto tires. An eighth grader I know brought it up at practice last week. He's worried about contracting cancer or some other god-awful disease from the exposure.

It might depend

By adamg on Fri, 04/11/2008 - 12:19pm.

On whether he lives in Needham or Newton.

thank you

By Anonymous on Fri, 04/11/2008 - 12:26pm.

thanks adamg. oh, he's from weston.