Editors Page:
Kids, here's one way to avoid getting a D
(but don't try this at home)

If only I knew then what I know now, I just might have avoided receiving the one and only D in my life.

It was my sophomore year in high school. I cannot remember the teacher's name, but I will never forget her non-smiling face- or the low mark she gave me in Algebra I the first marking period. I was traumatized. Not me, a straight-A student.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have blamed the hvac system. Yeah, the hvac system.

After struggling wit ha few math quizzes, I should have started complaining about the overbearing heat in the classroom. I could have fainted or continued to cough and cough and cough. Another option would have been faking a horrible headache every time I stepped into that dreaded classroom.

Had I really done my homework, I would have said, "Something's wrong with the air in here."

Chances are, though, that the administration would not have followed up on my "indoor air quality" complaints. My D was allotted by fat.

GROWING PROBLEM

While it may be unfortunate that, in the early 70's, I did not have the knowledge I have now regarding IAQ, it is still more unfortunate that many principals and school boards still do not. "Bad air" is nothing to sneeze at-especially for children in K-12 school.

Indoor air is often five to 100 times more polluted than outdoor air. Air contaminated with mold, dust mites, and chemical fumes can trigger allergic reactions, asthma, and respiratory infections. The Environmental Protection Agency even ranks indoor air pollution among the top five environmental threats to public health.

With their young lungs and immune system, children are especially at risk-six tines more vulnerable to indoor air pollutants than adults, according to researchers at the University of California at Irvine.

A growing number of doctors and educators say that "bad indoor air" is partly responsible for the mysterious rise in Attention Deficit Disorder and asthma. They fear that sick schools are robbing children of their health and destroying teachers' careers.

You do not have to convince Irene Wilkenfeld, founder of Safe Schools, a group that complies information on school air quality. The group's database contains 2,500 case histories of students and teachers suffering because of sick schools.

"We are in the midst of an unrecognized emergency," she said.

Just recently, a Minnesota elementary school was shut down before Christmas after complaints from students and teachers. More than 30 air quality-related illnesses were reported at the school since fall. One teacher relayed how there was "a lot of burning in my throat, down my chest, below my rib cage. I've had many symptoms over the time, like nausea."

Another example: A 14-year old freshman at a high school near Houston had to be rushed to the hospital, where he stayed for 14 days. Although the teen had coped with asthma for years, it did not become life threatening until he was exposed to stale air in this school.

Eventually, the Texas Department of Health found up to three times the recommended amount of carbon dioxide in the air at the school. In addition , a consulting firm reported mold growth on some walls and ceiling tiles. The asthmatic teen was ordered by his doctor not to return to the campus because of the air quality problem.

NEED FOR REPAIRS

Then there's the case of an elementary school near Charleston, SC. One teacher said the building triggered headaches and made her vomit. A second-grader developed chronic lung problems, problems that disappeared when he was on vacation. Even visitors were getting sick-yet the school district did virtually nothing to solve the problem.

A newspaper actually hired a consulting firm to look into the matter. What the firm found did not make parents happy. Among other findings, the air conditioning equipment was covered with mold and the filters were clogged.

"People don't realize that the air conditioning system is the building's lungs, and like our lungs, it's supposed to be clean," said Paul Breck, one of the investigators from InSight Environment. "This is especially bad for kids. Someone who is highly sensitive to mold and dust shouldn't have to deal with this."

My 6th grade daughter, Emily, is asthmatic, I am definitely concerned. How much will it cost to cure our sick schools? No one knows for sure. After all, you could spend millions of dollars checking and fixing our schools and not solve the problem for everyone.

What is known is that Americans have neglected their public school systems. The overall price tag to repair and upgrade our 80,000 public schools is $112 billion, according to a General Accounting Office study. And if we do not start repairing them now, you know the situation will just get worse.

To help the cause along, why not volunteer to examine the hvac system at your local elementary or high school? You may be pleasantly surprised-or just as shocked as I was after receiving my first Algebra I grade.

Reprinted from the Editor's Page, Engineered Systems

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