My yard is being sprayed; can my kids go out and play?

John and Isabel live in an apartment that has a beautiful yard where their children like to play, especially during the summer. Peter and Susie, ages 4 and 6, have many toys in the yard, and a small sandbox. The apartment complex also has a big park where all of the neighborhood children play.

One day they received a notice from the apartment manager telling them that he hired a pest control company to treat the lawns around the apartment complex and the park. They were going to use pesticides for weed and insect control.

John and Isabel were concerned about the application. They had many questions, but mostly, they were worried about their children's health. On the notice they found a phone number for the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) and called to find answers to their questions.

Take Home Message

John and Isabel explained the situation and their concerns to the NPIC specialist. The specialist explained pesticide risk and gave them information about the different routes of exposure. They learned ways to help protect their children by minimizing their exposure.

The specialist discussed several options for reducing exposure:

• Keep kids, pets, and other people out of the area during the treatment, especially downwind from the site
• Remove toys or furniture from the yard that could accidentally get sprayed with the product(s)
• Cover the sand box to prevent any accidental contact with the spray
• Stay away from the treated area until the pesticide spray has dried

For pesticides applied as granules, options include:

• Keep children and pets off the treated area as long as granules are still visible
• If the granules are supposed to be watered in, keep off of the treated area until the granules are completely watered in and the lawn has dried

The specialist suggested finding out exactly which products would be used by contacting the landlord or the pest control company. She encouraged John and Isabel to call back with the products' EPA registration numbers or active ingredients for more specific information about the toxicity of each product.