EPA says mold is health hazard in schools

[Guest guest]

Gotham Gazette -

http://www.gothamgazette.com/article//20051212/202/1673

The Need for Healthier Schools

by Boese

12 Dec 2005

Most people think all asbestos was removed from New

York City public schools years ago. So participants in

a New York State Assembly hearing on healthy schools

earlier this year were shocked to learn that last year

construction workers who were replacing a gym floor at

P.S. 219 in Brownsville, Brooklyn inadvertently

released the flaky white substance throughout the

building. The school was shut down immediately for an

emergency cleanup. Student and faculty health was

jeopardized, and valuable learning time was lost.

The legislators were even more shocked to learn that

no one knows how many other New York City school

buildings still contain asbestos; records at the

Department of Education are incomplete.

At the Healthy Schools Network, our files are filled

with reports from parents and teachers who are

struggling to deal with unusual and unnerving

illnesses affecting their children, students and

coworkers. But it is not possible to do a scientific

study to see if environmental conditions in their

schools are at fault. The data is simply not

available; neither city nor state officials keep

track. But ignoring the problem will not make it go

away.

ILLNESSES AND ABSENCES

Students spend nearly a quarter of their waking hours

in school buildings that parents trust are safe.

Unfortunately, there are real reasons for concern in

many public schools. The U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency has said that environmental health hazards like

mold infestations, toxic chemicals, diesel fumes and

contaminated renovation debris, along with other

pollutants such as pesticides and toxic cleaning and

maintenance products, can foul a school’s indoor air

quality. In fact, the EPA estimates that about half of

the nation's schools have poor indoor air, a major

health hazard. In the winter, as schools shut their

windows and children spend more time indoors, the

problem becomes even worse.

In New York City, the state Assembly heard testimony

from Avril Dannenbaum, whose seven-year-old son

attended PS 111 in Manhattan. He has a chronic

infection that compromises his immune system. His

mother says she can manage his infection and his

seasonal allergies at home. “But then,” she explained,

“if you add on environmental allergens in his school,

such as a dirty rug to sit on, peeling, flaking paint

from the walls and window sills, along with industrial

cleaning products and insecticides, you have a child

who comes close to shutdown. Then he is unable to

learn or function in class.”

While many problems afflict older schools, new ones

are not immune. Tests found high levels of two

chlorine solvents at a new high school in the

Soundview section of the Bronx, hastily constructed in

an old Loral Electronics factory. Both are known to

cause serious ailments, including cancer. Assured by

authorities that the vapors were below threat levels,

parents later found out that city tests of soil and

ground water at the site had revealed serious lead,

mercury, cadmium, and chromium contamination.

A PROBLEM IGNORED

With parents, the press, and the political

establishment all demanding tougher academic standards

and higher test scores, physical conditions in the

schools tend to be ignored. Proposals abound for how

the city might spend the billions it is owed under the

Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, but none of them

includes any mention of using some of the money to

make schools more environmentally healthy.

These health policies and practices have a direct

impact on academic achievement and efficient

allocation of education funds for every child. Poor

environmental conditions in schools sicken students,

teachers and staff, and inhibit academic performance.

And our neediest children also need the healthiest

schools. Poor school facilities contribute to a poor

leaning environment that can undermine children’s

health, attendance and test scores.

The American Lung Association, along with the federal

Centers for Disease Control and the EPA, agree that

asthma is the number one reason for school absenteeism

due to chronic disease in New York’s schools. The city

has some of the worst asthma rates in the nation, and

the disease is epidemic in many neighborhoods,

especially communities of color and among the poor.

Public health officials studying urban asthma think a

cleaner classroom environment could help control the

crisis.

CLEARING THE AIR

There is some good news to report. Coal boilers, which

remained in some New York City schools for more than

20 years after they were outlawed in other facilities,

have now all been removed. In 1999, the state

Education Department issued minimal standards and

procedures for school indoor environmental quality and

health and safety. State legislation has banned

arsenic-infused pressure treated wood (commonly used

in playground equipment), pesticide-laden cake toilet

deodorizers and elemental mercury (a potent

neurotoxin) in schools. Schools must now provide

notification when they plan to apply toxic pesticides.

In August, Governor Pataki signed legislation

requiring schools to use environmentally preferable

(green) cleaning products. The state Office of General

Services already does this for state facilities, so

the healthy products are readily available. Reducing

student and staff exposure to industrial strength

chemicals will help reduce school absenteeism. The

program will take effect with the start of the

September 2006 school year.

Both the city and state are moving toward implementing

guidelines to assure that all school construction and

renovations meet high standards for health. In New

York City, a broad coalition of environmental, labor,

health and healthy schools advocates were pleased when

the City Council passed a green building standards

bill earlier this year and Mayor Bloomberg

signed it into law in October. This significant

legislation requires that all public construction,

including schools, meet standards for environmentally

friendly – or green – buildings by January 2007. By

requiring better ventilation and barring the use of

toxic paints, carpets and other materials, this

measure will help improve student health and

performance.

WHAT MORE CAN BE DONE

Now it is time to take further steps. Fortunately,

protecting our children will not add billions to the

cost of education.

At the federal level, Senator Hillary Clinton secured

amendments to the 2002 No Child Left Behind law, which

for the first time defined healthy and high

performance school standards in federal law. This

legislation required a comprehensive federal study of

how school environmental quality affects student

health and learning. But Washington’s follow-through

has been flawed. The report, which was produced last

year, has yet to be released to the public. Clinton’s

initiative also established a grant program for states

to spur the development of healthier schools.

Unfortunately, Congress has neglected to fund this

despite intensive advocacy by the National Coalition

for Healthier Schools (in .pdf format), a coalition of

over 300 organizations and individuals led by the

Healthy Schools Network.

New York State also needs to do more. Albany offers a

Green Building Tax Credit that gives incentives to

commercial developers to design and construct green

buildings, but the credit is not available for

schools. Pataki has signed an executive order that

requires all state public construction to meet the

standards of the Green Building Tax Credit. But while

the state recommends that schools meet those

standards, it does not require them to do so. That

should change.

And the state should move ahead on initiatives already

in the works, such as a joint project of the New York

State Energy Research and Development Authority and

the State Education Department to develop healthy and

high performance school design standards. The

legislature should pass a bill introduced by Senator

Alesi and Assemblymember Englebright that

would require healthy and high performance design

standards for all New York schools.

For parents, teachers and school staff, such

improvements cannot come soon enough. As Avril

Dannenbaum told state lawmakers about her child, “I

can make his home as safe as possible, but it’s at

school that he needs to be able to function well to

learn optimally. I’d like you to make his school a

safe place where he can study and reach his full

potential.”

Boese is the New York State director of the

Healthy Schools Network

Image above (photomodified) from The Texas Department

of Health

This website is brought to you by Citizens Union

Foundation. It was made possible by a grant from the

Revson Foundation, and receives support from

the Rockefeller Foundation, the New York Times

Foundation, the Sterling Foundation, the

Altman Foundation, and viewers like you. Please

consider making a tax-deductible contribution.

Gotham Gazette - http://www.gothamgazette.com/article//20051212/202/1673

__________________________________________________