Report finds school toxin poses health risks

Students and staff who spent time inside The Bronx New School, PS 51 when it was housed in a contaminated building face an increased risk for developing cancer, according to a state Department of Health report released Monday.

Their exposure at 2300 Jerome Ave. to trichloroethylene, commonly known as TCE, also poses minimal risk for nervous system sicknesses and low risk for immune system problems.

Women who were pregnant while working in the building had a moderate risk of giving birth to children with developmental defects, the report concluded.

The DOH categorizes risks as minimal, low, moderate or high, with low risks signifying that people were exposed to a level of TCE that is close to the cutoff the state uses to decide what’s safe. 

The Department of Education waited six months to notify parents and staff that it had detected high levels of TCE in February 2011. That summer, the DOE moved PS 51 to 695 E. 182nd St. 

The old building was placed in a state cleanup program and further tests revealed air inside the school contained 10,000 times the state’s limit for TCE. 

Close to 50 people gathered in St. Philip Neri Parish Monday to hear Department of Health officials share their findings after two years of preparation and research. 

Many asked about their children’s health problems — from headaches to kidney disease — and whether these ailments were linked to the TCE; toxicologist Thomas Johnson said there’s no way to prove what caused sicknesses. 

Others requested that the state recalculate risks for students who spent extra time in the building during summer school or after-school programs, which officials said they could do, but which they didn’t believe would significantly alter their findings. 

Several criticized the DOE, city Department of Mental Health and Hygiene and state Department of Health for failing to inform local doctors about the risks of TCE exposure or to maintain an updated contact list for those who taught at or studied at 3200 Jerome Ave. 

Laura Klein, a Riverdale resident, said the government should begin collecting data.

“If we don’t have any organized method of keeping track of what’s going on with this population, we’re not going to have any recourse when and if, God forbid, something starts happening to our children,” she said.

Drawing on her experience as a research physiologist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Ms. Klein said statistics about a population’s likelihood of having diseases has no bearing on an individual’s chances of developing health problems.

State health officials agreed with her criticism and said they didn’t have the staff to organize such a study.

Midway through the meeting, Sheila Sanchez demanded to know “who was responsible,” spurring parents to repeat her question and ask who would be liable in lawsuits and who would address emerging issues.

As she grew frustrated with the silence from DOE staff, Lelanie Foster, 26, a former PS 51 student asked, “What’s you’re presence here for?” 

Elizabeth Rose, chief of staff for the division of operations, said department staff came because they were invited and wanted to “continue to have dialogue with the community.”

Don Miles, a public health specialist with the state who led the meeting, requested time to reflect on inquires about which agency would take responsibility for the situation and said he would write a response.

No answer had been drafted when parents began filing out of the church.