A drifting danger for Central Valley schoolchildren

Nancy and Bryan Lara, ages 10 and 8, knew something was wrong when they saw a tractor surrounded by white clouds near their school bus stop in Caruthers.

"I know that clouds are not on the ground, they're in the sky," Bryan said.

The children hid behind a row of grapevines, but they could taste the noxious blend of liquid sulfur, gibberellic acid, insecticide and fertilizer as the rig rolled past them, billowing out its chemical cargo.

Moments earlier, the mist had enveloped 17-year-old Carina at another stop about two blocks away.

"I felt it. It was wet. I was wet," said Carina, who asked that her last name not be used.

School bus driver Crystal Wells drove up in time to see Nancy and Bryan running for cover. She pulled her bus to the side of the road to avoid exposure. Her decision kept 50 children from being exposed.

The May 14 incident was the third case in seven months in which San Joaquin Valley children were exposed to pesticides while at stops or on school buses. Despite regulations and laws in place to protect children, including programs to encourage growers to be aware of school bus routes, authorities estimate that school buses are still drifted on once or twice a year in Fresno County alone.

Though relatively rare, such incidents remain a reminder of the daily hazards of life in California's agricultural hub.

"Children are almost like a different species in terms of how they metabolize," said Nina Holland, the lead researcher of a UC Berkeley study that found children are more susceptible than adults to organophosphate pesticides. "We are talking about a very significant difference. We really need to look at protecting children."

Kryocide, the chemical that the children were sprayed with, is not an organophosphate. It is "slightly toxic if inhaled" and can damage a person's kidneys and bones if they are repeatedly exposed to it, according to a manufacturer's information sheet.

But what happened next shows how pesticide exposure can cause more than physical harm.

The bus driver picked up the three children, called her supervisor and drove them to Caruthers High School, where they were met by firefighters, medics and investigators. Soon, the three began to suffer headaches, nausea, itchiness and breathing difficulties.

Erika Lara arrived to find her two children hooked up to oxygen.

"I cried because they had oxygen on," Lara said. "I wasn't expecting that."