SAN CLEMENTE : Classrooms Pass 3rd Test for Toxins

Capistrano Unified School District officials said Thursday that results of a third test conducted by the Orange County Health Care Agency on two portable classrooms at Truman Benedict Elementary School showed only a “minute” trace of a toxic chemical in the air of one of the classrooms.

Tests were conducted last week for trichloroethane and benzyne, two chemicals that were detected earlier in the blood of teacher Kristen Schultz and an 11-year-old student. The latest tests revealed no trace of benzyne and, in one of the classrooms, a level of 0.037 ppm of trichloroethane, which is well below the permissible exposure limit of 350 ppm, said Richard W. Johnson, the district’s coordinator of pupil services.

Trichloroethane, often used as a solvent for fats, oils, waxes and resins, can be absorbed by the skin and is toxic. Benzyne, suspected of being a carcinogen, can be moderately toxic if inhaled, ingested or absorbed by the skin.

Two earlier tests conducted by the county for formaldehyde, trichloroethane and benzyne were negative.

The tests were ordered by the district after Schultz and several students in both rooms complained of nausea, chest pains, headaches, dizziness and breathing difficulties after moving into the new portable classrooms in September.

Fearful that a strong odor in the classrooms could be responsible for what she said were illnesses in 80% of her students, Schultz refused to continue teaching in the room, and her class was moved to the school’s library on Oct. 30. She could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Three weeks after Schultz’s class was moved, students in the second portable were moved to another location as a precautionary measure as district officials investigated the problem.

While school officials attributed the illnesses to the flu at the time, a medical expert hired by the district said last week that some of the illnesses may be connected to the strong odors inside the new classrooms.

The district will randomly test additional portable buildings throughout the district during winter vacation to see if any problems can be detected. The district uses more than 500 portable classrooms to house its growing student population of about 28,500.