Children from Coos Bay Day Care Center Fall Ill After Pesticide Exposure
Children and staff from a Coos Bay day care center fell ill and suffered from inflamed eyes and breathing problems after exposure to a pesticide called Tempo, which was sprayed inside the facility due to a flea infestation. "The owner, Elizabeth 'Betty' Ewing, said in an interview Monday that she bought and sprayed the wrong insecticide inside her childcare center. But Ewing blamed the mistake on an employee of the Coos Bay Grange Co-op who sold her the product, saying she received the wrong chemical". The investigation is on-going.
We urge everyone, if they MUST use a pesticide, to do so cautiously and responsibly. It's important to be well informed about the pesticide that will be used, and to follow all safety recommendations. Better yet, practice preventative measures to avoid an infestation requiring pesticides in the first place. IPM (Integrated Pest Management) strategies are good to follow when dealing with pests -- which calls for pesticide use as a last resort.
May 16th, 2017 | A Coos Bay day care center shut down Monday in the aftermath of an insecticide-spraying incident that left at least a half-dozen children and two staff members suffering from inflamed eyes and breathing problems.
State regulators opened an inquiry into the May 5 incident but have not sent anyone to visit the Coos Bay Children's Academy Inc., which had an enrollment of about 80 kids.
Instead, the owner voluntarily closed the center Monday as several key employees quit and parents pulled children en masse over concerns about transparency and safety.
Before the insecticide incident, the Children's Academy had been cited for six state rule violations in less than a year of operations. None prompted a fine from Oregon's Office of Child Care, the state's regulator of day care centers.
The incident along Oregon's southern coast raises broader questions about oversight of troubled day care centers by the Office of Child Care. Across Oregon, state officials rarely shut down large commercial day care centers even in the face of well-documented problems.