Latino school kids in California face a higher risk of exposure to deadly pesticides than other kids in the state, according to a civil rights complaint filed Wednesday against California pesticide regulators. The complaint charges that the use of the lethal pesticide methyl bromide is discriminatory because it is applied near schools with primarily Latino students. The complaint, filed with the EPA, asks the agency to require the state to impose stricter rules or an outright ban on methyl bromide. Methyl bromide, an ozone-layer-depleting chemical, was supposed to be phased out in the U.S. by 2001, but the deadline was pushed back to 2005 under pressure from agricultural interests.
