Banning lawn pesticides in Connecticut.

GOVERNOR M. JODI RELL OF CONNECTICUT RECENTLY FURTHERED the cause of environmental health safety by signing into law a ban on lawn-care pesticides at public middle schools in the state.

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Exposure to such pesticides poses a particular threat to children due to their lower body weights, faster rate of respiration, and the fact that they're says Nancy Alderman, president of Environment and Human Health Inc., the nonprofit organization whose research influenced the bill.

Connecticut already bans pesticides on the grounds of public elementary schools. The new legislation extends that ban to grades 6, 7 and 8.

Alderman says further extending the ban to high schools--whose fields get much harder use--is less of a priority compared to other concerns surrounding the health hazards of recycled rubber tire "crumbs" in synthetic turf fields and playgrounds.