ENVIRONMENTALLY SICK SCHOOLS
Sick Building Syndrome is now acknowledged to be a significant
medical concern. In 1990, approximately 200 employees developed
multiple medical symptoms while working at the Environmental
Protection Agency. The acclaimed PBS NOVA Series presented a one
hour program on Sick Building Syndrome during the winter of
1996.
Indoor pollution is now acknowledged to be at least ten times
more dangerous than outdoor pollution. As of 1991, over 350
indoor air pollutants had been identified.
Sick Building Syndrome appears to have increased since the mid
1970's when this country was faced with the energy crisis. Specifically,
due to the rapid increase in fuel costs, buildings over the past twenty
years have been built with more insulation and no windows. Because of
increased insulation, problems with
molds, dust, chemicals, and perfume have triggered more medical problems in
the workplace and the school room.
In looking for underlying causes for environmentally sick
schools-- dust, molds, gas and oil heating, cleaning agents, construction
materials, petrochemicals, fluorescent lights,
formaldehyde, carpet, and new paint are significant underlying
reasons for the increasing health problem affected by our schools.
The result of environmental sick schools is that more children
are having difficulty learning, increased susceptibility to infections, and
difficult behavior. Symptoms including headache, fatigue, dizziness,
nausea, nasal congestion, asthma, poor
concentration, moodiness, depression, fatigue, and hyperactivity can be
caused by poor air quality in our school rooms.
A good way to understand why certain children are developing
more infections and behavior problems is to understand the overload concept.
Specifically, certain children and adults can be overloaded with dust, mold,
and food problems on a particular
day and be more susceptible to getting sick and/or more behavioral
difficulties. Unfortunately, this scenario is happening much more
frequently in recent years.
Because of the increase in symptoms secondary to environmentally sick
schools, our office has started using special equipment to collect air
samples from the school room. The following is a medical history describing
how this equipment was used to help one
of our patients. Michael is a 11-year old male who was initially seen in our office
approximately two years ago for the following diagnoses:
Immunotherapy consists of treatment for 15 molds, 17 foods, 4
additives, 8 inhalants, cat and dog. Over the past two years, Michael's
problems with recurrent infections, nasal symptoms, eye redness, headaches,
attention span and concentration have been very well controlled on
immunotherapy. Both parents noticed that if
immunotherapy was missed for several days in a row, Michael was more
susceptible to nasal symptoms and headaches.
When totally evaluated, Michael's mother informed me that he had
enrolled at a new school in
September which was 25 years old. Michael
had developed headaches,
decreased attention span, and eye redness by the second to
third period while in school.
After being home for one hour these symptoms abated, but he had
difficulty completing
homework assignments. Michael's grades the first quarter
continued to be A's and B's
except for 1 F the second period and 1 D the third period.
Because of declining grades,
increased headaches, decreased attention span and
concentration, and increased fatigue while
in school, special equipment was used to collect air samples
from the school room. Allergy
testing with the school air allergen provoked headaches,
fatigue, increased activity level, and
a pulse increase of 16 with the first dilution. After five
dilutions, we were able to obtain
a treatment dose for school air.
One week after starting the immunotherapy for school air
Michael noticed that his energy
level was normal, headaches were well-controlled, and he was
able to complete homework.
This child represents a patient whose allergies, recurrent
infections, headaches, fatigue, and
attention span problems were well controlled for almost two
years on appropriate
immunotherapy. Unfortunately, exposure to a "Sick Building"
school with a mold problem,
caused a re-exacerbation of many of his symptoms.
Immunotherapy to deal with a school
air quality problem was appropriately tested and treated,
resulting in good improvement.
To determine if a child is having specific difficulties with
pollens, molds, chemicals or
foods one approach is to use five criteria in evaluating your
child. Specifically,
appearance (which includes dark circles under the eyes),
changes in behavior, increased
pulse with reactions to environmental factors, monitor
breathing with a peak flow meter and observe the child's ability
to write his name. If these five
criteria to evaluate a reaction are abnormal, it is important
to evaluate environmental
allergies and hypersensitivities as an underlying reason for a
child's difficulty with
infections, ability to learn and behavior.
The time has come for us to pay more attention to our
children's school and home
environment. We must start cleaning up the dust and molds in
the indoor air as well as
reduce the various chemicals that are present in buildings,
improve ventilation, and use
better and safer chemical materials. It is imperative that
the public and the medical
community be educated regarding environmentally sick
buildings. Our children need and
require a safe environment to learn, grow, and reach full
potential.