Soil Tests Show High Arsenic Levels at School

Soil tests have found above-average levels of arsenic at the Valerio Primary Center, prompting further tests but most likely not delaying the school’s fall opening, officials said Friday.

The levels of the metallic carcinogen detected are not high enough to pose health risks, agriculture experts and Los Angeles Unified School District officials said.

Still, district officials said they plan to conduct additional tests and confer with the state Department of Toxic Substances Control to determine the best way to handle contaminated spots, such as replacing areas with new soil.

District contractors analyzed 15 soil samples from the site and found that three samples tested at levels above normal, which is between 0.06 and 11 parts per million. The highest sample level was 12.8 ppm.

“At those levels, there shouldn’t be cause for concern,” said Rufus Chaney, a research agronomist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Md. “But if I lived in the area, I’d want more soil samples [tested]” to ensure that there isn’t more contamination.

Chaney said there would be cause for greater concern if arsenic levels were above 20 ppm.

To receive state toxic certification, said Erik Nasarenko, an LAUSD spokesman, the district “must go above and beyond what’s been done before. We have vigorous standards to satisfy. . . . Although the [arsenic] risk is small, we don’t want to take any chances.”

District officials said tests confirmed that the 2.7-acre site at 14935 Valerio St. is free of other environmental hazards, including lead paint, traces of which were found and removed last week.

Construction will continue on parts of the Valerio site, Nasarenko said, emphasizing that unless tests uncover additional contamination, the much-needed primary center should still open for 260 kindergartners and first-graders on Sept. 13.

The additional test results are expected to be available early next week. Soil samples were analyzed by Miller Brooks Environmental Inc., based in Huntington Beach.

Soil samples will also determine whether the arsenic is naturally occurring or residue leftover from the site’s former use as a horticultural center for nearby Fulton Middle School, district officials said.

At the levels detected, neither form of arsenic poses much of a danger to students or adults working or living around the site, said the USDA’s Chaney, adding that the classic movie “Arsenic and Old Lace” has given the element a bad rap.

In fact, Chaney said, low levels of arsenic are found in water, soil and even in humans and other animals, though it’s unclear why small doses are considered healthful. Arsenic is also used in feed for poultry because it helps ward off parasites.

Chaney said the only way arsenic poses a danger to children is if they ingest contaminated soil--with levels higher than those found at Valerio--but various studies show children can metabolize even higher levels of arsenic with little danger.

There’s no risk of it accumulating because it passes quickly through the body, Chaney added. “We know that from a diaper analysis of 2-year-olds.”

The district has been under heightened scrutiny after construction at the Belmont Learning Complex near downtown Los Angeles was halted when the discovery of hazardous materials raised environmental concerns.