Toxic Schools: Does Yours Make the List?

Last week, government regulators found high levels of manganese, a chemical element with brain-damaging effects, near LaCroft Elementary in East Liverpool, Ohio. This week, high levels of radon, a radioactive carcinogenic gas, were detected at Blue Ridge Elementary School in Walla Walla, Washington. Last fall, the EPA found acrolein, once weaponized during World War I, at levels 100 times higher than what the government considers safe outside 15 schools in eight states.

What's going on? Across the country, chemicals known to be toxic are being identified in the air in and around schools. But what's more alarming is that, while just a handful of schools are being tested, thousands more could present a similar threat to children who spend most of their days in the classroom.

The air quality findings come after a large-scale investigation by USA TODAY in 2008, which uncovered disturbingly high levels of toxic chemicals outside many of the 95 schools it monitored. The report spurred the EPA to take action and begin a monitoring program of 63 schools to assess the levels and impact of dangerous chemicals in the air. But your neighborhood school could well be making the list of toxic schools, without the knowledge of students, administrators, or government regulators.

The findings underscore a serious problem with the way industrial chemicals are regulated, not only around schools, but in residential neighborhoods and rural areas. Why did it take a high-profile media investigation to get the EPA to do its job? What about the thousands of other schools around the country? And what's the long-term consequence for children exposed to chemicals such as radon, manganese, and acrolein?

It's unclear how these chemicals may affect kids as opposed to adults, but rising rates of asthma among children have many pointing to airborn toxins as a possible cause. And it's not just the air outside that can pose a danger. Indoor air quality is another problem for schools, especially older buildings. This week, New York City school officials vowed to study and address unsafe concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls found in old caulking in city schools. The city estimates that hundreds of school buildings could have the same problem.

In reality, the average public school building in the United States is over 40 years old. Many were built cheaply, and even those that weren't are largely starved for maintenance money. Inattention to facility upkeep over several decades has created a host of possible threats to student safety, from defunct ventilation systems to deteriorating construction materials that are no longer in use due to safety concerns.

The American Society of Civil Engineers rated the state of schools as a "D" on their 2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, noting that the NEA's best estimate to bring the nation's schools into good repair is $322 billion. And as states tighten belts and slash budgets, schools won't be seeing significant improvements anytime soon.

Photo credit: Conspirator