Tracking sickness proves difficult

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Tracking sickness proves difficult

By Ivan H. Golden

Staff Writer

December 9, 2003

Since concerns about air quality at Hamilton Avenue Magnet School surfaced

nearly a year ago, many parents and staff have concluded the building is

unsafe.

When school administrators suggested during a parent meeting last month that

students' and staff members' symptoms -- including headaches, nausea and

respiratory trouble -- might not be building-related, they were showered

with boos, jeers and denunciations.

But determining whether the building's condition is harmful, as opposed to

merely unsightly, is difficult, hygienists and health officials said.

Parents, staff members and school officials have held several meetings in

the past year to discuss the building's condition and its future. The next

meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. today in the school's gymnasium.

The Board of Education approved a $550,000 interim appropriation last week

for planning, and work could begin next year to replace or overhaul the

school.

But despite environmental tests done over the past year by the Department of

Health and several outside contractors, officials have not yet established a

clear, cause-and-effect link between the building's condition and health

problems experienced by staff and students. Often, the tests have detected

mold, dust and other pollutants, but they have not conclusively proved those

pollutants are causing people's discomfort.

That is not uncommon. In fact, when it comes to sick schools, it's par for

the course.

" In at least half the cases where people say (they) have an indoor

air-quality problem, you can never find anything wrong, " said Mark

Granville, laboratory director of Laborato-ries, Inc., a public

health and environmental laboratory in Norwalk. " It's very hard to find a

smoking gun. "

But Granville, who has not done any work at Hamilton Avenue Magnet School,

said that does not mean the buildings are safe.

" Science doesn't know everything, " he said. " It may be there are things

there, and we just don't know how to find (them). Or it could be something

else. It may be a morale problem. "

Several health officials said it is difficult to establish a

cause-and-effect link because the symptoms are so vague and there are so

many outside variables, including the students' home environments and each

child's tolerance for mold, dust and other irritants.

" The symptoms can be caused by anything, " said Long, director of

environmental health for the town Department of Health. " It's just not

conclusive. "

Ken Wallingford, an Indoor Environmental Quality Research Coordinator with

the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and an expert on

indoor air quality, said this is the case in as many as 90 percent of

so-called sick schools.

" In those cases, it's almost impossible to ever identify an environmental

cause and (find) a scientifically valid link, " said Wallingford, who is

based in Cincinnati.

Still, the school has had several recent incidents that raise suspicion:

Custodians have discovered mold at the school at least three times in the

past year; the building has old and musty carpets, asbestos tiles and a

ventilation system that is barely functional, officials have said.

But despite those risk factors, health department officials have not been

able to prove that anyone has fallen ill due to problems in the building.

Dave Sylvain, a hygienist in NIOSH's New England field office in Boston,

said it is difficult for scientists to make such conclusive statements.

" A lot of times, there are deficiencies in the buildings, and there could be

any number of risk factors, " he said. " Whether these cause actual illness is

another issue. "

To determine whether the building is to blame, Sylvain added, health

officials must carefully analyze students' and staff members' symptoms,

determine whether the sick individuals are clustered in any particular part

of the building and rule out other possible causes.

The town Department of Health attempted such an analysis in February,

mailing surveys to Hamilton Avenue's parents and teachers. But only 54

surveys were completed -- a response rate of just 17.5 percent -- making the

results statistically questionable, Long said.

In addition, the health department compared data on visits to the nurse at

the school with nurse visits at Cos Cob School, and found no significant

differences, Long said.

But despite the inconclusiveness of the tests, school and health department

officials said they have not ruled out a connection between the building and

its occupants' health problems.

Neil Payne, president of Payne Environmental LLC and project manager on the

company's Hamilton Avenue Magnet School building investigation, said he

suspects more than one environmental problem may be responsible for health

problems at the school.

" Is there some magical chemical in the building? Is it mold causing all

this? I would say no, " he said. " I think what we're preparing people for is

that there may be many things here. "

Copyright © 2003, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.

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