Seven High-Risk Schools Get Immediate Air Toxics Tests

Seven schools in five states are on the list for immediate monitoring. They are part of a longer list of 62 schools in 22 states that the EPA intends to monitor for toxics this spring and summer.

"As a mother, I understand that concerned parents deserve this information as quickly as we can gather and analyze it," said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. "EPA, state, and local officials are mobilizing to determine where elevated levels of toxics pose a threat, so that we can take swift action to protect our children at their schools."

EPA, state and local agencies will work together to monitor air toxics around the 62 schools, identified by the EPA for monitoring based on information that raises questions about air quality.

That information included the best data available to EPA scientists about air pollution in the vicinity of schools, results of a computer modeling analysis, results from a recent newspaper analysis by USA Today, and information from state and local air agencies.

The monitoring will focus first on schools near large industrial plants, along with some schools in urban areas, where emissions of air toxics come from a mix of large and small industries cars, trucks, buses and other sources.

Depending on the availability of staff and equipment, monitoring at some schools on the list will begin almost immediately - other schools will begin monitoring over the next 60 to 90 days. State and local air agencies will install and operate the monitors, while EPA will purchase the monitors and pay for laboratory analysis.

In the steel mill town of Warren, Ohio, two adjacent schools - the Life Skills of Trumbull County and Academy of Arts and Humanities - will be monitored for toxic metals such as lead, nickel and manganese, contained in particulate matter that is 10 micrometers in diameter or smaller, or PM10.

Sto-Rox Elementary School in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania (Photo courtesy Sto-Rox School District)

These two schools also will be monitored for the same toxic metals in total suspended particulate matter; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, such as naphthalene, benzo(a)pyrene, and volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, such as benzene and vinyl chloride.

In McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, a iron and steel industry town, the Sto-Rox Elementary School is being monitored for hexavalent chromium; metals in PM10, PAHs, and VOCs. Site specific air testing began last week.

In Vonore, Tennessee, site of one of North America's largest plastics and resins companies, the Vonore Middle School will be monitored for diisocyanates, chemical compounds used in manufacturing foam-containing products. Three of these compounds will be measured.

In Deer Park, Texas, site of Shell's expanding petrochemical complex, the San Jacinto Elementary School will be monitored for PAHs and VOCs.

And in the small Ohio River town of Follansbee, West Virginia, where blast furnace steel works are located, the adjacent campuses of Follansbee Middle School and Jefferson Primary School will be monitored for metals in PM10, PAH, and VOCs. These schools are trying to be green. In February, pupils and staff at Follansbee Middle School were named recycling champions by the Recycling Coalition of West Virginia,

State and local agencies will take periodic samples of the air around the schools for a 60-day period. EPA will analyze the results of the monitoring and share the information with the schools and the public.

On its website, the EPA explains that monitoring does not necessarily mean the students are in immediate danger. "We are monitoring for chemicals that may be harmful if people are exposed to them at high enough levels for a long time - often, over a lifetime," the EPA says. "We don't expect to find these chemicals at high enough levels to cause an immediate health hazard, but if we do, we'll let the school and community know, and we'll take action.

EPA will use the information gathered to determine how best to move forward, which could require additional monitoring or enforcement action where appropriate, Jackson said.

EPA and states will work with school communities to ensure they understand the monitoring results. In addition to monitoring the outdoor air quality, EPA also will help interested schools improve the quality of their indoor air.

Click here to learn more about this program and to view the list of schools that are part of the monitoring program.

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