Overexposure to PCB's

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been conducting a pilot program since January to test for polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs in New York City schools when in 2010 tests found the presence of PCBs in schools. The EPA has found PCBs in light ballasts in every Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan school that was inspected.

According to an article posted on News Inferno, The EPA has now suspended the inspection of PCBs in schools as New York City has now come up with plan to remove PCB-tainted light ballasts from the buildings.

New York City announced a $708 million plan, which will take 10 years to remove light ballasts from 772 New York City school buildings. The city had previously resisted the EPA’s urging to clean up the PCBs in schools due to the cost, initially estimated at $1 billion.

“According to The Wall Street Journal, the city’s plan appears to have satisfied the EPA. A spokesperson for the agency said it doesn’t have any more inspections planned in the near future, but ‘we always reserve our rights to inspect.’”

PCBs were used in many materials, especially in construction materials and electrical products between the 1950s through 1978, when they were phased out and officially ban in 1979. Despite the ban, PCBs can still be found in many buildings today. Some common items that PCBs are found in include:

• Other electrical equipment including voltage regulators, switches, reclosers, bushings, and electromagnets
• Old electrical devices or appliances containing PCB capacitors
• Fluorescent light ballasts
• Cable insulation
• Thermal insulation material including fiberglass, felt, foam, and cork
• Adhesives and tapes
• Oil-based paint
• Caulking
Plastics
• Floor finishes

PCBs health effects can be very serious as they do not easily degrade and can remain in a person’s body for many years. PCBs health effects include many life-threatening diseases such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and have been known to affect brain cell development, which may lead to developmental impairments. PCBs health effects can be dangers at even low levels as they can affect the ability to learn by damaging neuron components. These damaged neurons are linked to seizures, schizophrenia and autism.

If you or someone you love has been exposed to PCBs in schools, please fill out our online form or call 1 800 LAW INFO (1-800-529-4636) to discuss your case with a PCBs lawyer today.

PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, have been discovered in three more New York City schools. To date, spot checks of New York City schools by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have turned up PCBs leaking from light ballasts in all five of the New York City school buildings tested so far. All of the tests have confirmed leakage of PCBs above the federal limit of 50 parts per million.

The EPA would like the city to remove all older light ballasts that might pose a threat to students, not just the ones found to be leaking PCBs. The city argues that the students aren’t in any immediate danger although PCBs in schools has been found to cause long term effects.

Some of the long term effects of being exposed to PCBS in Schools include:

• Developmental and neurodevelopmental impairments, such as hyperactivity
• Exposure can affect the ability to learn by negatively impacting dentrite plasticity (damaged denrites are linked to seizure disorders, schizophrenia, mental retardation, and autism)
• PCBs also affect ryanodine receptors, which can add to neural circuits becoming over-excited

If you or someone you know have been exposed to PCBs currently or over time in NYC schools, please fill out our online form. Our experienced PCB lawyers may be able to help. We are currently offering free lawsuit consultations to victims of PCB-related diseases and disorders and their families.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Hudson River PCBs site involves nearly 200 miles from Hudson Falls to New York City’s Battery area and includes communities in New York and New Jersey.

GE released somewhere between 209,000 and 1.3 million pounds of PCBs for decades into the Hudson River. As a result, sediments became contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals, which continue to contaminate the river today. Hudson River PBCs may cause health problems as PBCs prenatal exposure has been known to affect brain cell development and linked to ADHD.

If you or a loved one are concerned about exposure to PCBs in the Hudson River, please fill out our form on the right. You can also contact one of our experienced PCBs attorneys.

First discovered in Staten Island schools… PCBs have now been discovered in Brooklyn school buildings. PCBs, in schools built before 1979, have been detected within the light ballasts. The EPA tested 28 samples in the Brooklyn school and found that 18 of the samples contained high levels of PCBs.

Although it would be extremely expensive to decontaminate New York City of the PCBs in schools, dangerous health consequences, including cancer and other life-threatening diseases, have been connected to PCBs exposure. By not solving the issue, students will continue to be exposed to PCBs in schools. Because PCBs do not easily degrade, they can remain in our bodies for many years.

PCBs in caulk and in light ballasts have been the biggest concern of PCBs in schools. PCBs have also been detected in some floor tile samples. PCBs were an element in the construction of schools and in electrical supplies from around the 1950s to 1978. Between those years, countless numbers of students have been exposed to PCBs in schools.

If you or a loved one are concerned about exposure to PCBs in schools, please fill out our online form. You can also contact one of our experienced PCBs attorneys.

Tests previously revealed dangerous PCB levels on floor tiles at PS 36; however, recent samples from the two impacted classrooms revealed levels below the standards set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said WNYC. Sam Pirozzolo, president of Community Education Council 31 on Staten Island, said he’s relieved about the results, but has concerns over how the problem was handled by officials.
” They physically told us that every light was inspected, and we looked up and there was a light that was not inspected,” he said, quoted WNYC. “We went around the partition to the cafeteria and found two more lights that had PCB ballast leaks,” Pirozzolo added.

PCBs are man-made chemicals that have been linked to a number of adverse health effects, including, most recently, increased blood pressure. PCBs were widely used in construction materials and electrical products prior to 1978. The toxins can affect the immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems and are potentially cancer causing if they build up in the body over long periods of time.

Although the two involved classrooms at the school were closed, PS 36 remained open as test results were pending, said WNYC. Despite this, a good majority of parents—about 75 percent—kept their children at home last Monday, noted WNYC.

If you’re concerned about exposure to PCBs in New York City schools, there is help available.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just added New York City’s Newtown Creek to its Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) of the country’s most hazardous waste sites. The designation allows EPA to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the creek to determine what remedial actions are required.
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