Posted on February 15, 2011 by Frank Dito

More Elevated PCB Levels Found in New York City Schools

As I have blogged before, I fear that the true extent of the PCB problem in our public schools is only starting to become fully known. Three more New York City public schools have been found to contain elevated levels of PCBs, in violation of federal standards. New York City acknowledges the results of the EPA required tests but unfortunately, doesn't go any further. The EPA ordered testing has revealed elevated PCB levels in almost a dozen New York City schools but the total number of schools being tested and when is unknown. It seems that every school tested has returned PCB levels above the federal limits for maximum long-term exposure.

The initial stipulation with the U.S. EPA required that a few New York City public schools be tested, and if any required remediation, the City and the EPA would draw up a plan to combat the PCB problem. The elevated results were initially attributed to the presence of contaminated caulking around the windows, which was removed. Despite the City's attempts to downplay the problem, test results have come back showing that PCB contamination is much more widespread that previously acknowledged and not limited to the caulking. No longer is this a problem limited to just a few schools; it has become widespread with the possibility that a substantial amount of the schools may be affected.

The effects of long term PCB exposure is not well known. Between the window caulking that has been recently removed and the discovery of PCBs leaking from the ballasts contained in thousands of fluorescent lighting fixtures, our children may have been exposed to elevated PCB levels for many years. Some of our children may even have directly ingested PCBs as leaking ballasts may have left residue on surfaces that children have come into direct contact with.

With statistics showing that 1 in 10 school age children will be diagnosed with autism, and environmental factors believed to be a leading cause of that statistic, one has to wonder if there is a link between our children's and exposure to PCBs and the ever increasing incidence of autism. Unfortunately, history has shown that the connection between the cause and the disease or illness isn't made until years after thousands are affected. I can only hope that EPA forces the City to test all schools, right now, and take whatever action is necessary, despite the cost or inconvenience. We need to act now and answer once or for all if we are putting our children in harms way.

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Posted on January 31, 2011 by Frank Dito

More PCBs Found In New York City Schools

Despite the City of New York continuing to downplay the significance, more and more test results have shown high levels of PCBs in New York City Public Schools. These results have come from spot checks conducted at various schools throughout the City. Last year, the City of New York entered into a stipulation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wherein a few of the more than 1,600 public schools were required to be tested for PCBs.

If levels higher than those allowed by federal law were found, the City was required to cleanup what was believed to be the source of the contamination; namely, caulking in the windows at these particular schools. However, once the caulk was removed from the windows at a few select schools, another source of contamination became apparent. The thousands of fluorescent lights hanging in our children's classrooms could be leaking PCBs into the air, causing levels more than 10 times the EPA limit of 50 parts per million.

The City, despite these findings, maintains that there is no danger as the exposure is not likely to cause immediate harm to children. What the City has sadly missed is that children are and have been exposed to PCBs in our public schools for the long term. Most public school children will be in the same school building for at least six (6) years. No one knows what the true effect of such long term exposure, despite PCB being a known carcinogen whose manufacture has been banned.

The City claims that it will cost over a billion dollars to remove and replace all the fluorescent lighting in the schools. The actual cost has been debated by the City, the EPA and parent groups. The City's words about about lack of immediate harm to students provides their true reason and true motive for such a price tag. Declaring a crisis would potentially displace 1.1 million students from their schools while the PCBs were removed and the classrooms were cleaned.  Procuring space for these 1.1 million students, setting up temporary classrooms and cleaning up what I believe to be a much bigger problem than anyone has allowed us to believe would easily eclipse the $1,000,000,000 estimate. Such a scenario would bankrupt the City and create a problem that has not short term solution. I am sure that there will be much more to this story, as my previous posts to this blog have shown. 

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Posted on December 21, 2010 by Frank Dito

More PCB's Present In Staten Island Schools

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has informed the City of New York that they will start to inspect public schools for PCB contamination starting next month. The EPA has advised the City to remove older fluorescent fixtures that can leak PCB into the air and onto surfaces such as desks and tables. The City has objected to the EPA's advice, saying that the fixtures pose no immediate threat and that replacing them would cost over $1 billion and result in the layoff of over 15,000 teachers. Needless to say, the EPA disputes the City's figures as to the cost.

PCB's are contained in the ballast of most fluorescent fixtures manufactured before the 1978 ban. In the average ballast, the device that controls the current in fluorescent bulbs, approximately 1 - 1 1/2 ounces of PCBs may be contained inside. The PCBs were used as an insulator to protect the electrical parts from becoming too hot and melting. When the ballast fails, it allows PCB's to leak out of the fixture.

PCBs are dangerous and readily absorbed through the skin if a student comes into direct contact with the leaked fluids. They may also be absorbed by the air that we breathe if the ballast is broken open. The dangers of long-term PCB contamination are not well known. Studies have shown that high-level exposure can cause specific types of cancer, such as liver cancer. Children exposed to PCBs have shown neurological damage, cognitive impairment and memory deficits.

What strikes me as very curious about this order is the first report of PCB contamination in New York City Schools. This blog's August 10, 2010 post spoke about the EPA's order to start testing certain schools for PCB contamination in the caulking around the windows. The City, somewhat secretly, began testing certain public schools for PCB contamination earlier in the year. The results showed PCB levels higher than the federal guidelines for long term exposure. This result appeared to be somewhat surprising to the City of New York. One has to wonder what went on behind the scenes that has actually brought the EPA to conduct their own inspections. Are the levels still highly elevated, even after the removal of the caulk? How long are we going to wait before we know the real story about the levels of contamination? Our children may be exposed to years of this contamination -  we need to write our local politician's and demand to know the real truth.

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