ROCKVILLE, Md. (WDVM) — Environmentalists are saying spraying pesticides on your lawn to keep bugs away could affect your health. That’s why Montgomery County is making strides to create a pesticide-free county.

Montgomery Parks recently expanded their pesticide-free parks program, by having 35 parks go pesticide-free. The county currently has 422 parks and 45 of them are now managed without the use of pesticides. Officials say the county will continue to use alternative methods to identify the best practices and expand the number of parks without pesticides.

“All the different strategies parks is employing to get rid of weeds short of using pesticides including integrated pest management which is a strategy to basically remove weeds and use more natural methods for pesticides only as a last resort,” said Tom Hucker, Montgomery County Councilmember.

Park officials say all lawn areas in local parks, community gardens, and all 273 playgrounds are also maintained without the use of pesticides.