Chrysler High School still battling indoor air pollution

[Guest guest]

http://www.thestarpress.com/tsp/news/local/02/jul/0701schoolairpollute.php

Monday, July 1, 2002

School still battling indoor air pollution

By SETH SLABAUGH

NEW CASTLE - For the second consecutive summer, work is being done to

improve the air quality at Chrysler High School, which was expanded and

renovated just a few years ago at a cost of $27 million. Last summer, the

problem was mold, which resulted in a cleanup costing about $50,000.

This summer, $338,000 will be spent to improve air ventilation and exhaust.

The work is scheduled to begin July 8.

" We've not had any evidence of mold since last summer when we did the

remediation, " said school Supt. Newby, " and we have continued to

monitor that as well as some other air-quality issues: carbon dioxide,

humidity levels and temperature levels. "

New Castle isn't alone. Schools are spending increasing amounts of their

limited resources - time and money - in attempts to fix real or perceived

indoor air quality problems, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency.

Half of America's schools experience problems linked to indoor air quality,

a 1995 survey by the U.S. General Accounting Office found.

A typical school has four times as many occupants as office buildings for

the same amount of floor space, the EPA says.

This summer's work is intended to enable the school to meet guidelines for

carbon dioxide levels and " the amount of air movement you should have based

on the number of people in the building, " Newby said.

Carbon dioxide, one of the gases in our atmosphere, is exhaled by students -

and other people - as waste.

Schools that fail to respond to indoor air quality problems create an

unfavorable learning environment for kids, who are more susceptible to

pollution than adults; reduce productivity of teachers and staff; expose

themselves to liability, and generate negative publicity that could damage a

school's image, the EPA reports.

New Castle teachers have blamed indoor air pollution for causing headaches,

sinus infections, allergies and other health problems.

This summer's work will take place in 50-60 classrooms.

" The work we are doing now should help with the mold issue, if it happens to

rear its ugly head again, which we don't expect, " Newby said. " We discovered

the air-flow issue was a contributing factor to the mold problem. "

How much of a distraction has the indoor-air quality problem been to the

school?

" I've never felt the conditions were dangerous or a health hazard to the

students or employees, " Newby said. " It's been a huge distraction for me

personally, consuming a lot of my and the school district's time, energy and

resources. "

Contact Seth Slabaugh

at seths@...