Parents Fear Kids at Risk From Dangerous Dust at Silicon Valley School
A new school next to a concrete plant in Silicon Valley poses a serious health risk to the children and adults there.
The National Institutes of Health and several other federal agencies, including OSHA, CDC and the EPA have reported on the health hazards of dust from concrete manufacturing facilities. Ultra-fine particles in the dust can lodge into the lungs, ultimately traveling to the heart. As a result, exposure can cause respiratory problems and even lead to cardiac arrest.
Dr. Tony Wexler, Director of the Air Quality Research Center, explains that even when the students, teachers and administrators are inside the school, the school's circulation system may bring in air with potentially toxic dust from the facility next door.
“The lungs of children are growing,” he said. And there's been a number of studies showing that children who were exposed to air pollution when they were young, their lungs did not grow properly and they do not ... fully function when they reach adulthood.”
Read the full article in the NBC Bay Area News by Bigad Shaban, Robert Campos and Michael Horn: