PA Urban IPM Program Partners with New Jersey
It is one of the nation’s most significant and fastest-growing chronic health threats to children under 18 and the leading cause of death in the elderly. It’s called asthma, and a Penn State program is working to combat its spread in urban areas by addressing asthma’s chief causes: pests and pesticide misuse.
University Park, PA (PRWEB) May 5, 2006
It is one of the nation’s most significant and fastest-growing chronic health threats to children under 18 and the leading cause of death in the elderly. It’s called asthma, and a Penn State program is working to combat its spread in urban areas by addressing asthma’s chief causes: pests and pesticide misuse.
The Pennsylvania IPM Program (PAIPM) and the New Jersey IPM Program are collaborating in an effort in Philadelphia, Pa. and Camden, NJ to identify residents at risk of developing asthma due to pest and pesticide triggers. According to Lyn Garling, education specialist with the Pennsylvania IPM Program, inner-city residents are especially at risk for developing asthma and other health problems from multiple sources of environmental pollutants and toxins. “In low-income urban communities, exposure to pests and pesticides is an everyday occurrence,” says Garling. “Residents living with serious indoor pest infestations become demoralized and desperate to get rid of these creatures, so they routinely and indiscriminately use ‘bug bombs’, ‘bug sprays’ or ‘rat baits’. Recent studies indicate both pests and pesticides can cause and aggravate asthma and other health issues, especially with our children and elderly residents,” she explains.
IPM is a kid-safe, economical, and scientific approach to managing pests. IPM integrates knowledge of pest identity and biology with pest monitoring so that action, if needed, can be taken at just the right time. In addition, IPM uses a combination of management tactics that are more likely to be safe and effective.
Two years ago, the Pennsylvania IPM Program formed the Philadelphia School and Community IPM Partnership (PSCIP) in low-income African American neighborhoods in West Philadelphia. According to Garling, members include parents, students, administrators, teachers, agencies, churches, and community group/organization representatives working together to promote IPM as a means to reducing the risks associated with pests and pesticides.
PA IPM and New Jersey IPM recently won a Northeast Regional Integrated Pest Management grant to further their work. These funds are administered by the Northeast Regional IPM Center, a part of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The current project will work to expand the groups’ goals of reducing pesticide use through educational outreach throughout the targeted communities.
The program will first identify residents’ attitudes and current activities concerning pests and pesticide use in the West Powelton neighborhood of Philadelphia and Camden, NJ. PA IPM has already been working in West Powelton through PSCIP. “In Camden, our target community is within the Heart of Camden Program. The Heart of Camden program is an urban renewal project that renovates run down housing in Camden, NJ and then sells the homes at a discount to disadvantaged families. It is similar to the Habitat for Humanity program,” Garling explains.
Each resident that participates will receive an IPM resource kit containing information about using IPM to control pests, nontoxic traps with instructions, and sealed containers to store food items. PA IPM will also survey local stores to find out the types of pesticides that are being sold to local residents.
In addition, the project will develop new outreach materials to meet the needs of their target communities. “The new materials will empower residents to take control of their pest problems and make positive changes in the home, reducing the health risks associated with both pests and pesticides,” Garling explains. The group will work with urban health partners to develop brochures, radio spots, presentations and other forms of communications. They’ll also begin developing multi-lingual publications, starting with Spanish. “We’ll take advantage of the many social service agencies in both Philadelphia and Camden to help us distribute the materials to our target audiences. The materials will also be made available on our Web site at http;//paipm. org.”
Garling estimates that at least 500 residents and six health care organizations and their staff will be educated on pests, pesticide use and IPM. “We’ll be ‘training the trainer’ with various organizations so that a potentially a much larger population can be reached through their own clientele,” she explains.
According to Ed Rajotte, PA IPM coordinator, the project will help address the new Federal IPM Roadmap that requires addressing urban pest problems. “IPM programming in the U. S. has mainly addressed agriculture. However, to understand and manage pest problems in urban environments, we have to go beyond looking for parallels from agriculture and moving them into the ‘city limits.’ We need to start from scratch by understanding the situation of our clients just as IPM implementers did with their agriculture clients more than 30 years ago,” Rajotte explains.
For more information on this project and the PA IPM’s Community IPM Program, visit their Web site at http://paipm. cas. psu. edu/community. html (http://paipm. cas. psu. edu/community. html). Or, you may contact Michelle Niedermeier at the Philadelphia IPM office, phone (215) 435-9685.
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