Plum Grove Junior High School (Just one on Many Sick Schools in Illinois)

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Chicago Tribune

May 5, 1994 Thursday

BUILDINGS AREN'T EASY TO DIAGNOSE;

PROVING SCHOOL IS 'SICK' PROMISES TO BE VEXING

By Sue Ellen Christian and V. Dion Haynes, Tribune Staff Writers.

Staff and pupils at Plum Grove Junior High School in Rolling Meadows are

trying to determine if their building is making its occupants ill. But as

other " sick building syndrome " cases show, that is often a search that has

no end.

It won't be easy to determine whether the school building may be linked to

several cases of cancer, including five that were fatal, or to numerous

complaints of respiratory problems.

Just ask workers at the new DuPage County courthouse-where scores suffered

from flulike symptoms-how confounding such a search can be. Citing

ventilation problems, county officials sued the architectural firm. But the

architects deny there were any defects.

Or ask teachers and children at a Hanover Park elementary school, where the

cause of nausea and headaches among pupils remains a mystery after a year of

investigation.

At least two separate tests found nothing significant, but a consultant was

hired last month to examine the issue again.

Or ask employees at the Lake County Health Department offices, where

environmental tests last summer never did turn up anything irregular,

despite complaints of sinus problems among staff.

" I understand what they are going through, " said Empereur, an

official at the Health Department. " It's hard to say what causes it. "

True, Plum Grove Junior High officials aren't sure what they have on their

hands. Sick building syndrome? A naturally occurring incidence of illness?

Toxins in the air due to ongoing renovations at the school?

What is known is that some of the 60 staffers at the school have experienced

respiratory problems this year as the 33-year-old building has undergone $5

million in renovations, including the removal last summer of asbestos floor

tiling and pipe insulation.

As employees talked among themselves, they recalled that five school

employees died of various forms of cancer from 1982 to 1992, and that

several others have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

School officials say none of the 720 Plum Grove pupils has became ill, but

some parents Wednesday reported that their children had been stricken with

respiratory problems this year.

The process of finding out whether the illnesses were just normal

occurrences or can be linked to the building will begin Thursday, as an

occupational health expert meets with employees to discuss their problems

and concerns.

" When you have several people being diagnosed with cancer and several going

for biopsies, you start wondering whether there is something in the building

that could be responsible for it, " said Kathy Merkelz, president of the

Classroom Teachers' Council in the school district.

Experience in investigating such concerns shows there are countless

variables to assess.

But there are also some commonalities, such as ventilation problems that

cause poor air circulation. In many cases, the power of suggestion is the

most insurmountable problem, experts say.

" Basically, the two things you can count on as absolutely being real are the

people and their complaints, " said industrial hygienist Stuart Salot.

" These aren't crazy people and not fake complaints. But the question still

remains: Is it toxicology or psychology? " said Salot, president of CTL

Environmental Services in Harbor City, Calif.

Salot and several other experts in environmental health say that situations

such as the one at Plum Grove are often fueled by workers talking to one

another, comparing notes on illnesses.

But they also say that the problems aren't imagined. It's just that

respiratory problems and the flulike symptoms associated with sick building

syndrome are so common that they are difficult to link to one source,

experts say.

Responding to complaints from Plum Grove faculty about odors, Community

Consolidated School District 15 administrators hired a Mt. Prospect firm in

January to test the air quality in the building.

The company, Turnkey Environmental Consultants, determined that the odor was

caused by glue that was left behind when asbestos tiles were removed from

the building last summer. District administrators say the glue has since

been removed by a high-powered blasting process.

In addition, the company tested carbon dioxide, bioaerosols and dust levels

and found no irregularities. But its report did state that certain pathogens

could create problems in people prone to allergies or those with

immune-system deficiencies.

The company has been rehired to review the different substances in the

school, from building materials to copy machines. It will work with Dr.

Orris, medical director of the corporate health service at Northwest

Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.

District 15 officials have provided some details about the five Plum Grove

employees, four teachers and a part-time administrator, who died of cancer:

Two of the victims were women, and three were men. At least one had

gastrointestinal cancer. Another had skin cancer. Others had brain tumors

and breast cancer.

They were all ages, although most were middle-age. Most worked in the school

for more than 10 years, but were not confined to the same area of the

building.

Currently, school administrators know of four employees who are suffering

from breast cancer. In addition, officials say a number of teachers and

staff this year have complained of various respiratory ailments-pneumonia,

bronchitis, colds, flu and allergies.

It's not clear whether the incidence of cancer at Plum Grove is higher than

the national average.

The American Cancer Society states that one in three people will get cancer

in the course of their lifetime. One in five deaths in the U.S. is due to

cancer, mostly tobacco-related.

Of all the risk factors associated with cancer, environmental risks are

" negligible, " said a spokeswoman.

Like Plum Grove school, other public buildings in the Chicago area have been

the focus of similar complaints-some of which are still unresolved.

After conducting repairs to their ventilation system, officials at the

DuPage County courthouse have noticed a dramatic decline in the number of

health complaints. Yet the County Board and the workers are still embroiled

in separate lawsuits against the building's architects, who deny

responsibility for the problems.

At the Lake County Health Department, complaints last year by employees

suffering from sinus problems and other illnesses prompted air quality

tests, which showed no irregularities.