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PCBs (Which Can Cause Cancer) Leak Onto Student's Head At Staten Island School
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 12, 2012
Modified Sep 12, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 12, 2012
Modified Sep 12, 2012
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NYC public school students have been in school for less than a week and already one of them is facing a horrible situation: Staten Island student Gabriella Sferrazza at PS 41 was sitting at her desk when a "leaking light fixture dripped onto her during class." And the light fixture, the Staten Island Advance reports, was really old and has PCBs: "The ballasts in the fixtures contain the chemicals, once widely used in construction but banned in the 1970s because they are harmful to the environment. Long-term exposure to PCBs has since been linked to several forms of cancer, liver disease and developmental deficits in children, among other illnesses."
Apparently the school told Gabriella's parents that a light leaked onto her and to bring her new clothes. While Gabriella was deemed to be okay, her dad wonders, "Whose to say in two months my daughter won't get any side effects?"
The Department of Education initially only removed light fixtures from the classroom but now it is removing fixtures from the whole school. Furor over old lighting fixtures has been picked up in recent year—last year, numerous Staten Island schools were closed because of dangerous levels of PCBs in fixtures.
The EPA's "health effects" page about PCBs says, "PCBs have been shown to cause cancer in animals. PCBs have also been shown to cause a number of serious non-cancer health effects in animals, including effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, endocrine system and other health effects."
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cancer
pcb
pcbs
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staten island
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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