· Do children like them?
· Are there other benefits?

Ask the group what questions they think they need to have answered if they are going to make a decision about the safety of a certain food. Draw the large chart (a sample chart with information for the trainer follows) on the blackboard or flip chart without filling in the spaces. As the group comes up with questions, fill in the chart with them. Develop your entire list of questions before you begin to work on the answers. You will want to be sure to elicit the questions noted in the Key to Activity 3: Fruits & Pesticides Fact Sheets-For Trainer Only. Your group will probably come up with additional valid questions.

Sample Trainer's Chart:
 

Questions	Source of Information	Answers
		Apples	Strawberries	Bananas

 
Step 4: When you have enough questions, ask the group to brainstorm where to go for the answers. Who in your community could answer these questions? This information will fill the next column.
 
Step 5: Now fill in the answers to the questions with information from the Key to Activity 3: Fruits & Pesticides Fact Sheets.
 
Step 6: Discuss your conclusions about the safety of serving any of the three fruits to the children in the program.

• Which fruit do you want to incorporate into your program?
• What is your conclusion about the healthfulness or safety of the others?

• What would be most difficult about sharing this information?
• Which facts does the committee need?
• Which emotional issues will be the most important to consider?

• How are family members likely to respond to your presentation about concerns over children's exposure to pesticides from the fruits?
• Will some group members be concerned about possible exposure?
• Will others think that this whole idea is irrational and that we should eat fruit without being concerned about pesticides?

• What do you feel the committee did well?
• Were they clear?
• Was the committee responsive to parents' concerns?
• Did the committee offer concrete suggestions?
• What do you suggest to improve the discussion?

• What information do we have on this issue? Which stories? What anecdotal evidence
• How strong is the evidence of harm? What do we know about people who have been extensively exposed to pesticides? Have they been sicker than those with less exposure?
• How much of this fruit do children eat? What does this mean in terms of their "dose" of pesticide exposure?
• What do we know about children and their bodies?

• Is this risk voluntary or involuntary? What does it mean that children don't have choices in the food that is provided to them?
• Can we do anything personally to control our individual risk? Can we do something that controls the risk for our own Head Start community, even if we can't tackle the larger problem?
• Do we have a risk right now, or is it something that might be a problem in the future?
• Have we presented ourselves as a trustworthy source of information?

• People who have researched pesticide residues on fruits and veg etables do not suggest giving up these foods. Fruits and vegetables, grown with or without pesticides, are important to everyone's diet. The researchers recommend being aware that there may be risk, and trying to reduce exposure in any way practical:
• buying produce in season, recognizing that out-of-season crops are more heavily treated
• choosing fruits and vegetables grown in this country rather than those grown outside the United States under less stringent regulations
• purchasing organically grown produce
• Researchers also recommend that while acting to protect ourselves, we should work to see that changes are made in regulations to protect all from combined exposures. Children especially are not well protected.
• Where fear is associated with such a highly charged topic as pesticides in food, it is important to search for reliable information and avoid making a hasty judgment.

Part I: General Information

• Pesticides are chemicals. Most are synthesized from petroleum but some are of natural origin. Pesticides are used to control pests such as insects, fungi, rodents, and weeds.
• In 1991, in the United States, 817 million pounds of active pesticide ingredients were used in agriculture-more than two pounds per American.
• Pesticides are also used widely in home gardens, lawn care, landscaping, and golf courses.

• organochlorines or chlorinated hydrocarbons examples: DDT, chlordane, heptachlor, dieldrin
• organophosphates and carbamates examples: parathion, malathion, Diazinon, alidicarb

• Effective against pests (at least in the short term)
• Easier and cheaper than hand weeding or crushing or washing off insects
• Allow crops to be cultivated where they otherwise would not grow, so that different crops are available at different times of the year. Fungicides prevent mold and prolong storage time.
• Some pests now are resistant to pesticides, and some environmental contamination has occurred in farming areas because of pesticide use.

• Pesticides are governed by two laws: the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). Tolerances are maximum residues permitted in food; these amounts are a fraction of the amount that causes harm in test animals. Sometimes the tolerance considers whether a person would be exposed to a particular pesticide from more than one source; however, it does not consider whether the person might be affected by a few different pesticides that have a synergistic effect. These tolerances may have been established many years ago, before all effects were known. They are usually defined for adult, healthy males, and for an "average" adult diet. The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 requires consideration of effects on children.

What tests have been done to determine harmful effects? What other infonnation do we have?

• All pesticides are dangerous; they are poisons designed to kill some sort of living thing. Some are dangerous when touched or eaten-the effect is immediate and dramatic. Some do not affect people or other creatures immediately if exposed, but remain in bodies and in the environment.
• Tests on animals have shown health effects at various levels of exposure. In nature, effects on wildlife have been documented.
• There have been many incidents of farmworkers becoming ill from exposure to pesticides. There have been occasional examples of people in the community becoming sick from eating food contaminated by pesticides (for example: alidicarb on watermelons in 1985). Pesticide exposures (not necessarily from eating) have been proven to cause:
• Skin disorders and rashes
• Cancer
• Nervous system effects
• Reproductive system effects

• There are no documented studies of children becoming sick or being adversely affected from eating foods with pesticide residues on them, if the residues are lower than the tolerance.
• There has been very little research on long-term effects of regular exposure to pesticides in the diet.

• If these crops are grown in your area, use local information. If not, assume that the bananas came from Central America, the strawberries from California, and the apples from New York.
• If a product comes from outside the country, it may have been treated with a pesticide that is banned in the United States. Usually we don't know which pesticide has been used.

• Check into organically grown fruit. Is it available? Is the price comparable? Can the Head Start program get a good price or influence the farmer's pesticide practice because Head Start buys a large quantity?
• Consider what nutritional benefit derives from the fruits you have considered. In which other foods can you find similar vitamins, minerals, protein or carbohydrate benefits?

• County extension agents, local farmers, local stores (especially those concerned with the issue who are checking into residues), the Environmental Protection Agency office in your area, agriculture groups, environmental groups.

For this activity you will need:

· Water samples from a variety of places
· Information from your water department or health department about local water quality
· Key to Activity 4: Water Qualities-For Trainer Only

Step 1: Prepare for this activity by acquiring jars of water from several local areas; for example, from a tap at home, from the Head Start Center, or from a river or stream near the center. Be sure that you have one sample that is a muddy or sandy spadeful from a pond, lake, stream, or ocean. You might ask the participant(s) to bring a container with a water sample, too.

Step 2: Begin by asking the participant(s) to look at the variety of water samples. To understand environmental hazards, the first step is using our own knowledge and powers of observation. Tell them that in this activity we will be considering how the ecosystem includes many things that are unseen; some are helpful, others harmful.

Environmental health specialists have developed tests to determine when an unseen harmful substance is present. In working with families, it is helpful to know enough about these tests that you can respond to environmental concerns with facts. If we don't understand how facts about toxins are uncovered, we are more vulnerable to believing and being swayed by sensational reports about toxins or more likely to accept bland assurances that everything is fine.

After the participant(s) examine the water samples, ask for their thoughts about water:

• How important is water to health?
• Do you have concerns about the water you use?
• What do you know about water quality, the source of water in your community and water processing?

Review the Background Information on toxins in water and Key to Activity 4: Water Qualities-For Trainer Only. 

Ask the participant(s) if they can think of other unseen hazards. Examples might be:

· in air: carbon monoxide, radon gas
· radiation from X-rays or the sun
· forces from electric or magnetic fields
· pesticide residue on food
· lead in paint

Since we can't see these toxicants, how do we know they are there? How do we know they are harmful?

Step 5: To determine whether toxins are present, we would ask several questions. We will use water as the example, but these questions could be adapted for other situations. Some questions to start with are:

• Do we know whether any harm has come to anyone from drinking local water?
• What do we see when we look at the water? (We will use our senses first, though we know some toxicants cannot be detected in this way.)
• What invisible toxicants might be in our water?

Use Key to Activity 4: Water Qualities-For Trainer Only to coach these questions. 

Step 6: Ask the participant(s) to look over the information you have collected on the local water supply.

• What are the main issues about water in your area?
• What tests does the water department use to assure purity?

• What should you be doing to ensure that your water supply stays clean and safe?

Points to Consider

• Water is important to all of us. We need to be aware of our local water system and what risks there might be.
• Because water is so essential to life, it is frightening to think of it being polluted.
• How do we go about dealing with potential contamination without unduly alarming people?
• How do we communicate about contamination when the contaminants can't be seen?
• One problem in alerting people to environmental hazards is that many hazards cannot be seen. Unless people get sick, it is difficult to become concerned about water quality if the water looks clean and fresh. It is difficult to convince people about the risk from radon gas, since it cannot be seen and has no smell. Having concrete test results can help.

Key to Activity 4: Water Qualities-For Trainer Only

Where Does Our Water Come From?

Most of Earth's water is unavailable for drinking. Drinkable water comes from ground water sources (aquifers and wells) or surface water (rivers, lakes, and streams). The risks for various types of water pollution vary with the source of water. Agricultural runoff might contaminate ground water beneath the fields first, but ultimately could get into other water locations. Surface water is susceptible to contamination through debris or microorganisms carried by the wind. Water drawn from wells, and not monitored as part of a public water supply, needs frequent testing to assure purity.
 
How Much Water Do We Have?

Imagine that all of Earth's water can fill a one-liter glass. The water comes in the following forms:
 
 

28 ml fresh water made up of:  23 ml ice caps, glaciers  4 ml ground water  2 drops surface water  1 drop atmosphere & soil  972 ml salt water

How Does Our Water Get to Us?

Water supplies vary from region to region. It all comes from fresh water (surface or ground), then goes through a piping system to get to our homes, offices or pumps. Contamination in the transport system is possible. Water that travels through old, corroded pipes might pick up lead from the solder used on the pipes. Well water is more likely to be contaminated with microorganisms than is a publicly treated municipal water supply (from ground or surface water).

What Are the Characteristics of Our Local Water?

• Milky color when drawn from tap: The water has lots of air in it, clears once it settles. Is it harmful? No.
• Rusty color when it comes from faucet: The pipes have some corrosion that colors the water. Is it harmful? No, but you might want to run the water for a bit to clear the standing water, which is discolored.
• It is difficult to get soap bubbles to form: Water can be hard (full of minerals, such as ground water) or soft (without minerals, such as snow melt). Soft water is "hungry" so it will absorb and use whatever is put into it. Hard water is "full of stuff' so that the first part of the soap that is put in it gets used to neutralize the minerals. You need more soap to get suds. Is it harmful? No.
• Water looks clear and fine, but people get sick from drinking it: Water could be contaminated by microorganisms, chemicals or metals.  Is it harmful? Yes.

Fluoride is a natural trace element found in small and varying amounts in almost all water supplies, plants, and even our diets. At the proper concentration in drinking water, fluoride reduces dental cavities. Where the local water supply does not have the necessary level of fluoride occurring naturally, some communities add fluoride to the water. Other do not add fluoride, and children in those communities need regular topical fluoride treatments to protect their teeth.

What Do We Do If the Water Is Contaminated?

• With lead: Run the water for a few minutes each morning before you drink from the tap. This will flush out the standing water, which will have higher concentrations of lead. Fill a jar with the cleaner water and keep it in the refrigerator for drinking or filling baby's bottles.
• With microorganisms: Boil the water for three minutes or use purifying tablets.

· Handout I-1: Home Visit Checkiist
· Handout 1-2: Did You Know...?
· Writing materials for participants
 
Step 1: Meet with your participant(s) and review the background information for this module. Note the types of toxins that might be found in a home. This activity will give the staff member the experience of combining environmental awareness with communication about concerns during the home visit.
 
Step 2: Review the general framework of a home visit.

• What can this staff member do to ensure that the family feels comfortable during the visit?
• How does she talk with the family to find out whether they worry about the health of their children or adult members of the household?
• Have family members told her they are concerned about an environmental hazard?

• Is the staff person comfortable with this topic?
• Does she have contacts with outside agencies and/or written materials she can give the family to help them reduce the hazards? If not, help the staff member make those contacts.
• How alert is the staff person as she observes the home? Does she notice possible hazards such as peeling paint, the use of pesticides, and type of heater?

• What hazards did the family bring up as concerns? What hazards did you notice that the family had not mentioned?
• How difficult was it to communicate with the families about environmental hazards? Were you able to address the concerns raised by the family and incorporate suggestions about other hazards into your discussion?
• When did you need help? What other members of your community did you have to draw in?

• Although we hope that we will be safe in our homes, a number of possible toxins could be lurking there. It is important to be aware of the potential toxicity of common hazards such as secondhand smoke, household pesticides, and lead in the water.
• Families are concerned about many things, and their highest priority may not be possible environmental hazards. The staff person must respond to the family's concerns first. When bringing up the possibility of danger to household members from environmental hazards, it is best to tie this particular danger into an already expressed con cern of the family member. For example:
• If a mother is concerned about her baby's frequent colds, the staff person could mention the connection between parents' cigarette smoking and child's respiratory infections.
• If a father mentions how difficult it is to keep the house warm, it might be a good opening to discuss the various heating and insulating options available to this family and the environmental impacts of each option.
• Some exposures can be reduced through personal choices; a person can quit smoking or choose not to use toxic substances for pest control. Some exposures will not be under a family's power to change. If they live in a rented house or apartment with lead contaminants in the water pipes, they can't fix the pipes. But, they can reduce their personal risk by running the water to flush out contaminants before drinking.