Is the school environment safe for children?

If schools were asked to take a quiz that would gauge the safety of their environments, who would flunk the test or pass with flying colors?

A waste and pollution watchdog asked this question as the annual Brigada Eskwela (National Schools Maintenance Week) came to a close. 



Aileen Lucero, acting national coordinator of EcoWaste Coalition, asserts, “While fully appreciative of the efforts of school principals, teachers, parents, pupils, janitors, and community volunteers, we cannot help but ask if the school environment has become truly healthy and safe for the kids after the cleanup activities.”

A few weeks before the opening of a new school year, the group did its homework and visited 20 public elementary schools in Malate, Paco, Pandacan, Quiapo, Sampaloc, San Andres, Santa Ana, Santa Cruz, Santa Mesa, and Tondo in Manila.

During the ocular visits on May 22 and 23, EcoWaste Coalition team members observed several acts that could have caused the formation and release of some major pollutants into the school environment. Among these mindless acts were:



1. The open burning of discards. Open burning is illegal under Republic Act 9003 (the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act) as it generates toxic byproducts such as particulate matters, greenhouse gases, persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals, halogenated carbons, and volatile organic compounds.



2.  The improper disposal of mercury-containing fluorescent lamps. Busted lamps were found mixed up with regular trash.  Spent lamps, classified as “special waste” under R.A. 9003, should not be simply thrown into the bins to avoid breakage, resulting in mercury spill.  According to a government-published Mercury-Containing Lamp Waste Management guidebook, “mercury and its compounds are highly toxic especially to the developing nervous system.”

3. The popular practice of painting school walls, doors, window sills, chairs, and tables (as observed in many schools), which raises the issue of lead paint and lead paint removal, which if improperly done will contaminate the surroundings with lead dust.   

The team was particularly anxious about chipping paint that may contain lead, a potent neurotoxin, in many government-supplied wooden and metal chairs and tables, and even in the balusters and banisters of staircases in most schools.



“Our concern for lead exposure in the school setting is not without basis,” notes Lucero, who
recalls that last year, her group detected  lead up to 13,600 parts per million (ppm) — way above the US permissible limit of 90 ppm for lead in paint and surface coatings — in several chairs and tables in a public elementary school and daycare center in Cavite and Quezon City.


“Children get most of their exposure from lead paint, dust, and soil in and around places where they spend most of their time such as in homes, schools, and playgrounds.  Ingesting lead through their common hand-to-mouth behavior is the primary route of childhood exposure,” Lucero points out.

“It’s high time that the Department of Education as well as the local government and school authorities adopted and enforced a ‘no lead paint’ policy.  Steps should also be exerted to assess the safety of our schools from lead contamination. For starters, painted school furnishings such as the chairs and tables used by kids in the classrooms, libraries, and canteens should be analyzed for lead, so proper remedial measures can be carried out.”

Citing information from the World Health Organization (WHO), the team observes, “Children are particularly vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of lead and even relatively low levels of exposure can cause serious and, in some cases, irreversible neurological damage.”



WHO warns, “Childhood lead exposure is estimated to contribute to about 600,000 new cases of children with intellectual disabilities every year.” It thus recommends risk mitigation measures to prevent childhood lead exposure, including phasing out lead in paints and eliminating the use of lead in homes, schools, school materials, and children’s toys.

Lead not our school children into lead!

* * *



Philippines, the social networking capital of the world

We all know that the Philippines is the famed “text-messaging capital of the world.” But did you know that our country has also been recognized as the “social networking capital of the world,” with more than 93 percent of Internet users having their own Facebook account?

So, you’re probably on Facebook. Whether it’s because we love to communicate or to keep in touch with our friends and loved ones, or to make new friends, Filipinos may be  the most active netizens on the globe when it comes to sharing their thoughts online.

With a very active social media and the continued increase in the number of online shopping sites, how much has this affected the shopping habits of Filipinos?

This question was raised by Reader’s Digest as it held its annual Trusted Brands survey.

The survey also asked participants how often they shared their positive and negative brand experiences online.

Now in its 15th year, the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey has become a marketing institution serving as a barometer in identifying consumer preferences and recommendations and over-all brand appeal of products in various categories.

This year, the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey covered 7,000 respondents in seven Asian countries, including the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand. The respondents consisted of Reader’s Digest subscribers and Asia’s quality consumers. Sixty-eight percent of all respondents in the survey agreed that the results of this survey would help them in making their purchasing decisions.

Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands is giving out a total of 91 awards to companies which scored the highest in the consumer survey under 42 categories.  It is considered one of the most representative and transparent consumer surveys in Asia with trusted brand results brought about solely by consumers’ brand recall and attribute scoring.

This year’s winners come from diverse industries such as food and beverage, personal products, finance, motoring-related, consumer electronics, health and personal care, household products, retail, education, transport, travel, and telecommunications. They were chosen based on six qualities — trustworthiness and credibility, quality, value, understanding of customer needs, innovation, and corporate social responsibility.

The survey was conducted by Ipsos, the world’s third largest market research company with offices in 84 countries.

The annual prestigious Gold and Platinum awards will be given to the country’s most trusted brands based on the results of a comprehensive consumer survey conducted last May 23 at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong.

Personally handing over the awards are Reader’s Digest Asia Pacific executives from Australia and Singapore, including Sue Carney, editor-in-chief, Reader’s Digest-Asia Pacific, and Ebb Hinchliffe, executive director from the The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines. Hinchliffe will keynote the awarding rites.

The event marks Reader’s Digest 91st anniversary, truly a milestone for this globally popular magazine, which was founded by Dewitt and Lila Wallace in the US and has been a part of a lot of people’s growing-up years.  Today, it is published in 49 editions and translated in 16 languages.

Wow, way to go for a nonagenarian!