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This document is also available as a PDF. SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
HUNTING AN INVISIBLE HAZARD
IS THERE SOMETHING IN THE AIR AT
SCHOOL?
PORTABLES MAY HAVE PROBLEMS;
DATA LACKING
DATE: Saturday, June 5, 1999
Section: SECTION: Local
Edition: Morning Final
Page: 1B
BY GLENNDA CHUI, Mercury News Staff Writer
Illustration: Photo Caption: PHOTO: PENNY DE LOS SANTOS -- MERCURY NEWS
Students return to their portable classrooms after recess at the Hellyer School
in San Jose. Portables may be more prone to ventilation problems and water
leaks that contribute to dirty air in all types of school buildings in the state.
[990605 LO 1B] Despite alarms raised by an environmental group, there are no scientific data
to show that the air in portable classrooms is less healthy than in conventional
ones, according to experts in indoor air quality. But there are indications that portables may be more prone to ventilation
problems and water leaks that contribute to dirty air in all types of school
buildings across California, according to a draft report released Friday by a
statewide task force.
''These units have endemic indoor environmental quality problems,'' said the
report by the California Interagency Working Group on Indoor Air Quality,
which includes experts from state and federal agencies, research laboratories
and groups such as the American Lung Association. The task force noted that some portables have no way to draw in fresh air.
Others get air only when the heater or air conditioner is on. Even good
ventilation systems get turned off because they're too noisy. Portables may also be more vulnerable to water damage from leaky roofs and
condensation, the task force said, although there have been no surveys to pin
down whether this impression is correct. Nonetheless, air pollution experts say it would be a mistake to focus attention
on portables alone. 1 of 4 7/25/99 10:28 PM NewsLibrary Document Delivery http://newslibrary.krmediastream.com/cgi...cument/nl1_auth?DBLIST=sj99&DOCNUM=27970 The task force is recommending a statewide investigation into environmental
conditions inside all types of classrooms. And it is asking the state to set up a
central authority to monitor school design and maintenance and to train school
staff in ways to keep their premises healthy. ''There's nothing to support that portables are intrinsically bad,'' said Jed
Waldman, chief of the state health department's indoor air quality section and
leader of the task force. ''But there is something to say that when classrooms are not designed, built
and maintained properly, they become environmentally unsound. That's true of
your office. It's true of your home. But it's especially true of classrooms,
because you have a lot of people in a small place'' -- about five times the
density of a typical office. Problems in classrooms Classrooms of all types suffer from poor ventilation, a lack of maintenance and
other conditions that dirty the air, researchers say. Even attempts to make classes quieter and more comfortable can backfire:
Carpets collect dust that can trigger allergies or asthma. Air conditioning
systems can harbor mold or bacteria. Since no one routinely samples the air in California schools, no one knows
how many classrooms suffer from polluted air, which can cause irritated eyes
and throats, an inability to concentrate, headache, allergic reactions, difficulty
breathing and -- in rare cases -- severe, even permanent injury. ''You don't know if you're talking about 10 or 20 percent or 1 or 2 percent'' of
students who are breathing bad air, said Joan Daisey, head of the indoor
environment department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who has
reviewed hundreds of scientific reports and complaints about classroom air
quality. Based on that review, Daisey estimates that 20 percent to 30 percent of
schoolrooms lack ventilation -- the factor most often associated with
complaints of health problems due to indoor air pollution. In a report released May 27, the Environmental Working Group charged that
two million California children who go to school in portables may be exposed
to unhealthy levels of toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene and
toluene. These gases, known as volatile organic compounds, waft out of
particle board, new carpeting, fresh paints, furniture and other materials. The group estimated that some children may be exposed to levels of
formaldehyde that, if they continued through 13 years of schooling, would
cause two to three times the number of cancers allowed by government 2 of 4 7/25/99 10:28 PM NewsLibrary Document Delivery http://newslibrary.krmediastream.com/cgi...cument/nl1_auth?DBLIST=sj99&DOCNUM=27970 standards. That translates to two to three cancers per million people over a
lifetime. While the state report released Friday did not address the issue of cancer risks
from toxic chemicals, air quality experts say the environmental group's report
overstates the danger. The people who manufacture portables say they're being unfairly singled out.
''The buildings we build now are built to the same standards as permanent
schools,'' including those governing ventilation, said Michael Rhodes,
president of Modtech Inc. in Perris, which makes about a third of the
portables sold to California school districts. The Environmental Working Group is calling for a survey of air quality in
portable classrooms, limits on the levels of indoor pollutants that students
breathe and policies that require builders to use less toxic materials in
portables. It is also backing a bill by Assemblyman Kevin Shelley, D-San Francisco, that
would direct the state to review the design of schools to see if they can be
made healthier. The bill would also require teaching school staff how to
improve indoor air quality and mandate regular audits of potential problems
such as poor ventilation or mold. Portables are under increased scrutiny because their numbers are
mushrooming in California due to swelling enrollments and state-mandated
smaller class sizes for children in kindergarten through third grade. The
Environmental Working Group estimates that there are now more than 86,000
in use. In an incident three years ago, a parent became ill after spending time in a
portable classroom at Christa McAuliffe Elementary School in Cupertino. The school district had the portable and other school buildings tested, said
Chuck Corr, director of facilities modernization for the Cupertino Union
School District. ''We had the EPA working with us and we were never able to
find a single thing that was a problem.'' The Cupertino experience is apparently not unusual, according to Daisey's
review of 147 complaints nationwide. In many cases, she found, investigators reported either undetectable levelsof
volatile organic compounds in problem classrooms or concentrations no
higher than those in a typical home. Where high concentrations were found,
they were traced to specific sources such as photocopiers. Limited investigation 3 of 4 7/25/99 10:28 PM NewsLibrary Document Delivery http://newslibrary.krmediastream.com/cgi...cument/nl1_auth?DBLIST=sj99&DOCNUM=27970 She noted, however, that the health effects of exposure to many indoor air
pollutants, including the volatile organic compounds, ''have been investigated
to only a very limited extent.'' Daisey said that while she doesn't think parents should be unduly worried
about the air schoolchildren breathe, ''I think it's time for the state to get more
concerned.'' She added, ''I don't think you should run out and start passing a lot of
legislation until you find out what the extent of the problem is.'' All content © SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS and may not be republished without permission. All archives are stored on a SAVE (tm) newspaper library system from MediaStream Inc., a
Knight-Ridder Inc. company. 4 of 4 7/25/99 10:28 PM |
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