What Environmental Hazards are Some Students and Teachers in Philadelphia Encountering?

The Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer recently released an investigative report about environmental conditions in the city’s elementary schools. According to their findings published in “Toxic City, Sick Schools, Hidden Peril,” over half of the district’s elementary schools had a minimum of 50 reports of environmental hazards.

These hazards and environmental concerns included everything from asbestos and lead-tainted water to lead-based paints, mold, cockroaches, mouse dropping and damp conditions. Any of these can impact the indoor air quality (IAQ) of a school or any building. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Poor indoor air quality can impact the comfort and health of students and staff, which, in turn, can affect concentration, attendance and student performance.  In addition, if schools fail to respond promptly to poor IAQ, students and staff are at an increased risk of short-term health problems, such as fatigue and nausea, as well as long-term problems like asthma.”

Asthma is a serious condition that impacts approximately 1 in 12 children according to 2015 numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The agency also reports that in 2013, 13.8 million school days were missed due to the disease making it a leading cause of school absenteeism.

“In Philadelphia and across the nation, there are countless aging schools that require repairs and preventive maintenance that could make a significant improvement to the air and overall indoor environmental quality of our schools,” said Jason Dobranic, Ph.D., Vice President of Microbiology and Life Sciences at EMSL Analytical, Inc. “To help school districts, at EMSL we identify these types of indoor environmental issues through laboratory tests. We provide all of the sampling supplies necessary and offer easy-to-use test kits for everything from asbestos and lead to mold and common indoor allergens.”

EMSL has even sponsored an educational video about IAQ issues in schools that can be seen at: https://youtu.be/jngqddmmoXY. 

To learn more about this or other indoor air quality, environmental and industrial hygiene testing services, please visit www.EMSL.com, call (800) 220-3675 or email  info@EMSL.com . To view the complete line of EMSL’s indoor environmental test kits, visit www.EMSLTestKits.com.

About EMSL Analytical, Inc.
EMSL Analytical is one of the leading testing laboratories with over 45 locations throughout the United States and Canada. EMSL is a nationally recognized and locally focused provider specializing in fast laboratory results for mold, bacteria, Legionella, USP 797, pathogens, asbestos, lead, soot, char & ash from fires, VOC’s, odors, radon, formaldehyde, indoor air quality, microbiology, environmental, industrial hygiene, radiological, food, beverage & consumer products and material testing services for the identification of unknown substances. EMSL services both professionals and the general public. EMSL maintains an extensive list of accreditations from leading organizations as well as state and federal regulating bodies including, but not limited to A2LA, AIHA LAP, LLC. (AIHA EMLAP, AIHA IHLAP, AIHA ELLAP), NVLAP, CDC ELITE, CPSC, CA ELAP, NY ELAP, TX DOH, NJDEP and multiple other state accrediting agencies. Please visit our website at www.EMSL.com for a complete listing of accreditations. In addition, EMSL carries a wide range of Sampling Equipment and Investigative Products for environmental professionals.

Contact Information

Joseph Frasca

Senior Vice President of Marketing

EMSL Analytical, Inc.

(1) 856-303-2503

Contact via E-mail