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IAQ IN ALLERGIES, HEADACHES, DROWSINESS? TEST YOUR IAQ! |
by Larry Wolf, Oregon
Education Association Board Director
It’s been a wonderful summer, and now it’s time to return to your
work site. After a few hours in the building you work in, you begin
to sneeze and have a runny nose. You ascribe these symptoms to coincidence,
or a ‹normalÊ problem that you just have to live with.
If you stop to think about it, these symptoms are not “normal”,
or you would have them year-round. The fact that these symptoms
occur only at work is a sign that you may be working in a “sick
building”!
My Story
I work at Chenowith Middle School in The Dalles, OR. Our problems
began about three years ago when a new gym was built next to our
building, which is quite old. Attaching the new gym to our older
building meant bringing the older building up to fire code, and
that, in turn, meant putting in two new fire walls. The new gym
was a welcome addition to our school, and we never gave a second
thought to the new fire walls « something that would turn out to
be a serious oversight on our part.
The symptoms were classic: allergies, hay fever, sleepiness, and
just a feeling of being run-down, regardless of how much sleep you
had the night before. Many of our students were feeling the same
way, and we knew we had a problem but we couldn†t find the source
of it. We discussed the problems with our administrators who were
sympathetic, but not really interested in testing the environment
to try and find the source of our problems.
Then, on September 25, 1996, things came to a crisis stage. I
arrived at school to find the staff and students complaining of
a terrible odor that was causing them to be ill with headaches and
nausea. I could also smell the odor that was obviously a gas of
some kind which I suspected to be methane or propane.
As the grievance officer for our union and a member of our building
safety committee, I took our concerns to the building principal
and suggested that we evacuate the building until the source of
the gas odor could be determined. I reported the illness I had witnessed
among the staff and students.
The principal evacuated the building, but did not call medical
services. Instead, the principal called the district superintendent,
the district maintenance supervisor, and the gas company.
The superintendent and maintenance supervisor arrived and felt
that we were “over-reacting”, stating that the odor was probably
caused by a stink bomb, rotten food, or an open canister of propane
near the air intake vent.
When the gas company representatives arrived, however, they identified
the odor as mercaptan, an odorant put in natural gas. A leak was
discovered in the gas heater located on top of the new gym. The
gas was shut off and maintenance crews called in to fix the problem.
The next day, the administration informed parents about the leak,
saying that the problem was fixed, there had never been a chance
of an explosion, and that the symptoms experienced by staff and
students had been due to “fear and panic”. The gas smell disappeared,
but other problems remained and were getting worse.
On October 16, 1996, we had another gas leak. Office staff informed
me that mercaptan was present in the gym and that students were
complaining of being sick and having headaches. When I went into
the gym I was surprised at the strength of the odor.
I immediately went to the substitute principal and stated that
three things needed to be done: evacuate the building, call the
fire department, and call the gas company. As it turned out, the
principal only called the superintendent. Two other teachers and
I had evacuated our classes, and after a few minutes the superintendent
and principal ordered us to go back in the building. When we asked
if the building was safe, the superintendent told us the problem
had been checked and the building was safe.
It wasn’t until later that afternoon that I learned we had been
ordered back into our classrooms before the gas company had checked
out the problem.
Our local Association decided that something needed to be done,
so our president sent a letter to the school board stating that
the Chenowith Education Association would like to meet with the
board in executive session to discuss what had happened. When the
school board chair informed us that the board would not meet with
us and that we were to take our concerns to the building safety
committee, we decided that the only way to get the problem resolved
quickly would be to take our case outside the district.
We contacted the local fire department, the local health department,
the sheriff’s department, OSHA, the state fire marshall, Channel
Two on Your Side, and anyone else who would listen. This outside
pressure prompted the district to bring in several specialists to
check out the building. They found that the new gas heater for the
gym, after being “repaired”, was only operating at 80% efficiency.
This was eventually improved to over 90% efficiency, which ended
the problem of natural gas being pumped into the new gym. OSHA discovered
that many of our rooms had higher than normal carbon dioxide levels,
which meant that in addition to gas leaks, our building lacked adequate
fresh air.
Filters were changed; tunnel vents, which had been closed by work
crews when they were installing the new fire walls, were opened;
and the fan bringing fresh air into the building was turned on.
Thus, many of the symptoms we had been experiencing disappeared,
but some of our staff members continue to have upper respiratory
problems, and we are investigating potential mold presence perhaps
caused by wet ceiling tiles.
Dealing with IAQ
Problems
The moral to this story is, “Don’t ignore or attempt to whitewash
sick building symptoms « test your IAQ (indoor air quality)”!
Surprisingly, most IAQ problems are quite simple and inexpensive
to fix. Most IAQ problems are the result of inadequate air flow.
Lack of fresh air creates many respiratory problems. Here is a list
of preventative measures:
- Ensure that vents are open, fans are on, and filters are cleaned
on a regular maintenance schedule. - Assure that air intake vents are open, clean, and far from air
pollution sources such as kitchen exhaust vents, truck unloading
areas, and smoke stacks. - Check to see that “enough” fresh air is being pumped into each
classroom or work area. Air flow devices that monitor the amounts
of fresh air coming into classrooms are available from the US
EPA. - Check the exhaust system. Air cannot flow adequately if it can’t
be removed from the building. Check to see if you have an “open”
system, rather than a “closed” one where stale air can†t get out
of your building. - Check your local Association contract to see if it contains
health and safety clauses. If your contract has no health and
safety language, put these issues on the bargaining table in your
next round of bargaining. Contact your local UniServ consultant
for assistance with bargaining goals and model contract language
on IAQ issues. - Check school board policy to see if it addresses health and
safety issues and if you can suggest possible remedies to IAQ
problems.
Some IAQ problems are critical and need to be addressed immediately:
natural gas leaks, propane leaks, and pollutants that are inadvertently
pulled into the air system. Each work site should have an evacuation
plan to deal with emergencies created by these kinds of IAQ problems.
The plan should always include having medical specialists on the scene
to evaluate the health of those who were exposed and suffering from
symptoms.
Air quality issues that should be regularly monitored include
radon, asbestos, molds, types of plants in rooms, heating, lighting,
air conditioning, formaldehyde, volatile organic substance, spread
of airborne infectious diseases, lead, pesticides, carbon monoxide,
and water pollution. These can all lead to a “sick building”.
Larry Wolf is one of 88 NEA members who have been trained by
the NEA HIN on the EPA†s IAQ Tools For Schools Action Kit ì a kit
designed to provide guidance on how to identify and address IAQ
problems in schools. For more information on how to order the kit,
access the EPA IAQ in Schools webpage at: www.epa.gov/iaq/schools.
