County - Sick school buildings may be making kids sick

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December 11, 1998

School district attacks bad air in classrooms

By Grove

<grove@...>

LAS VEGAS SUN

Sick school buildings may be making kids sick.

That was one message delivered Thursday as Environmental Protection Agency

officials huddled with County school authorities to discuss the indoor

air quality of schools.

" We're creating buildings every which way and no one ever thought much about

what would happen to the people inside, " said Barbara Stark, an EPA indoor

air program coordinator.

About 50 school facility officials attended the conference, looking for

answers about molds and mysterious odors.

" It's very common to find indoor air quality problems in schools, often

because of a lack of funding, " said University of Tulsa air pollution

researcher Shaughnessy, who helped run the conference. " People are

more concerned about schools falling in than they are about air quality --

and rightfully so in many cases. "

Stark and Shaughnessy introduced a new kit designed by the EPA to help

teachers, custodians and principals find solutions to the bad air wafting

through their classrooms and hallways. The kits are available free to

schools.

" Indoor air pollution is real and you don't have to be an expert in every

detail of it to deal with the problems, " Stark said.

About 100 air quality problems were formally reported to district officials

last year, said Jan Villaire, a director in the district's environmental

services department.

Mold is a common culprit, often found hidden behind furniture, under carpets

or behind walls, feeding on moisture.

Some molds are harmless. Other air-bourne spores can cause eye, nasal and

throat irritations, nausea, drowsiness, dizziness and headaches.

" Whenever I want to give an example of how mold will grow in a dry

environment, I use Las Vegas, " Stark said. " All you need is leaks. Mold will

grow anywhere. "

Complaints at schools range from air temperature to odors.

In one recent case, officials scoured an elementary classroom for the source

of a foul smell. The culprit: a lunch left by a pupil to rot in his desk.

Sometimes, the source of odors eludes investigators, as it has at Gibson

Middle School for months.

However, the smell receded in October after the district treated the room

with ozone. Students are back in the classroom, Villaire said.

" We haven't had any more complaints yet, " she said.

In rare cases, officials have to completely demolish rooms, Villaire said.

Villaire fields calls from principals at both new and old schools. Officials

say new schools create synthetic micro-environments full of chemicals found

in building materials, new furniture, carpets and paint.

The keys to clean air include ventilation, cleaning air filters and ducts

and finding the source of molds and fungi -- not just removing them,

officials said Thursday.

Villaire hopes schools will obtain the new EPA kits and use them.

" Ninety percent of the problems we deal with could be solved at the school

level, " she said. " It's a matter of getting the commitment of the school

administration. "