The Department of Education has found elevated levels of lead, arsenic or chlordane in the soil at 18 of the 23 public schools it tested in eastern Hawaii island, mostly around the perimeters of old buildings.
Health Department experts say risks from the contaminants are low, since the threat is from ingesting soil by accident. But schools are taking action to mitigate the problem and educate students, staff and families.
“We do not see this as a significant risk for students’ health or the health of the teachers or other workers in the school community,” Dr. Diana Felton, state toxicologist, said in an interview. “That being said there are some very simple things that people can do to minimize their risk.”
They include washing hands after playing outside, avoiding tracking soil indoors, and covering contaminated dirt with dense foliage or other barriers.
Lead was the primary contaminant, found at 17 of the 18 campuses. Two campuses, Pahoa High & Intermediate and Kapiolani Elementary schools, showed elevated levels of all three substances: lead, arsenic and chlordane. The affected campuses are mostly in the Hilo area but stretch as far south as Naalehu and as far north as Laupahoehoe.
In most cases, the contamination was found in the dirt at the edges of buildings constructed before lead-based paint was banned in 1978. None of the buildings built since 1980 had problems, Felton said.
Old buildings
Lead-based paint on the exterior of old buildings can wind up in the soil while arsenic-based herbicides were often sprayed around the edges of buildings, she said. Chlordane was commonly used for termite control around foundations until it was banned in 1988.
Lead poisoning is a danger to young children and can damage the brain and other organs. But given the levels of contamination, where samples were found and possible routes of exposure, the results do not pose a major concern, Felton said.
“The main source of exposure for all three substances is what we call inadvertent ingestion,” Felton said. “You get dirt on your hands, you get it on your food, you eat it and you end up eating small amounts of these chemicals.”
She called the risk from other means of exposure, such as inhalation of dust or contact with skin, “almost negligible.”
“Lead and arsenic don’t do any skin absorption,” she said. “With inhalation, because it’s in dirt and soil already, to absorb enough inhalation-wise, the dust would make you sick before the metals.”
The Health Department is not recommending blanket testing but Felton advised parents who want to have their children tested for lead exposure to check with their doctors or call the Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222. The state closely tracks all lead testing and encourages parents to screen toddlers for lead exposure at ages 1 and 2.
A few of the schools in the study have prekindergarten classrooms for 4-year-olds. But such classrooms already have protocols that include hand washing and leaving shoes at the entrance, and their outdoor play areas are typically covered to cushion falls, preventing contact with soil.
A letter to parents and a six-page information flier from the Health Department is going today to parents at the affected schools. Parents may contact principals for more details on their school’s situation.
Felton said the state does not recommend testing for chlordane and other organochlorine pesticides.
“Pretty much all humans in America have these chemicals in their bodies, but there is no known number that correlates with health effects from them — so finding out you have them in your system doesn’t mean anything,” she said.
Nor does the state advise testing for arsenic because results are confounded by common foods, such as fish, rice and seaweed, that have a non-toxic form of arsenic that can elevate levels, she said.
Officials stressed that lead, arsenic and chlordane can linger in the dirt around older homes and buildings statewide.
“This is not anything specific to schools,” said Fenix Grange, supervisor for site discovery, assessment and remediation in the Health Department’s Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response Office. “Within a six-block radius of your office building or your house, you would find the same thing.”
Her office has been focusing on former agricultural lands in the Hilo and Hamakua areas, where a lot of pesticides were used, she said.
“We did a little bit of sampling ourselves and the results showed a little bit of elevated levels of arsenic, so the Department of Education decided to do a larger study,” Grange said.
Health hazards
The DOE hired Integral Consulting Inc. to assess potential health hazards in soils at the 23 schools and develop management plans with state health and school officials. The review began in 2017 and individual plans for each school were completed in December and are underway.
As results came during the study, schools took action to cover or block access to areas with higher levels of contamination, Grange said. That includes using dense landscaping or other covering so that contaminated bare dirt is inaccessible.
Although the contamination was generally within a few feet of old buildings, exposed dirt in four open spaces showed lead contamination and one showed elevated levels of arsenic.
Hilo Union Elementary, for example, had a moderate level of lead in its garden area and that has been taken out of service, Grange said. Arsenic and lead are generally not absorbed by edible plants.
One of the highest lead readings was at the perimeter of a building at Pahoa High & Intermediate, where a soil sample registered at 15 times the “environmental action level” of 200 parts per million for residences, Grange said.
Dann Carlson, assistant superintendent for school facilities, said the department initiated the study, which cost $590,000, to look for possible arsenic contamination on former agricultural land. Given the results, it now plans to test schools on Oahu, focusing on older facilities.
“We are being proactive and we are trying to create a safe environment for our students to succeed,” he said.
“The message is going to be the same,” he added. “As far as kids playing in the dirt, make sure they do wash their hands when they come in, avoid tracking in soil… And from our custodial administration perspective, try to make sure there is some kind of foliage or ground cover around the perimeter of buildings.”
The recent study focused on soil but Fenton said there is no concern about the drinking water in schools.
“Drinking water from municipal sources in Hawaii has not had a problem with contamination from any of these chemicals—arsenic, lead or organochlorine pesticides,” she said.
Schools:
>>DeSilva Elementary (arsenic and lead)
>>Haaheo Elementary (lead)
>>Hilo High (lead)
>>Hilo Intermediate (lead)
>>Hilo Union Elementary (chlordane and lead)
>>Kalanianaole Elementary & Intermediate (lead)
>>Kapiolani Elementary (arsenic, chlordane and lead)
>>Kau High & Pahala Elementary (chlordane and lead)
>>Kaumana Elementary (lead)
>>Keaau Middle (arsenic and lead)
>>Keaukaha Elementary (lead)
>>Laupahoehoe High & Elementary (lead)
>>Mountain View Elementary (lead)
>>Naalehu Elementary & Intermediate (lead)
>>Pahoa Elementary (chlordane and lead)
>>Pahoa High & Intermediate (arsenic, chlordane and lead)
>>Waiakea Intermediate (arsenic)
>>Waiakeawaena Elementary (chlordane and lead)
SAFETY TIPS
Accidentally swallowing small amounts of contaminated soil and dust is the main means of exposure to lead, arsenic and pesticides on campuses. Here are ways to minimize the risk:
>> Wash hands thoroughly after playing outside, working in gardens and before eating.
>> Wash all fruits and vegetables with clean, running water.
>> Avoid tracking soil indoors and clean up any dirt that is tracked in.
>> Keep children from playing in bare dirt.
>> Use dense landscaping, gravel or permanent cover such as concrete close to building foundations and driveways, where contaminants can be found.
>> Test soil in school gardens to ensure it is free of contaminants and consider using raised beds.
Source: Hawaii Department of Health
Find the Health Department’s fact sheet, “What you need to know about lead, arsenic and organochlorine pesticides in soils at Hawaii schools,” at https://808ne.ws/Soil
Contaminated Soils by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd
