By Mariel S. Clark
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Elevated levels of toxic chemicals known as PCBs have been found in three East Harlem schools, all located in the same building, the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday.
EPA inspections showed the PCBs, short for polychlorinated byphenyls, had leaked or were actively leaking from old light fixtures at P.S. 206, P.S. 37 and P.S. 112 all located in the same building at 508 E. 120th St.
PCBs are toxins that have been linked to cardiovascular, endocrine, immune and cognitive damage and are often found in the ballasts of light fixtures that were installed before the lights were banned in the late 1970s. The same type of fluorescent fixture may be present in more than 1,100 schools city wide, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In January, the EPA began spot-checking schools that have been determined to have old fixtures, an EPA spokesperson said. So far, the agency has checked eight schools citywide, including the three in East Harlem, and all had light fixures containing PCBs exceeding the federal limit of 50 parts per million, according to the EPA.
The EPA's spot inspections were ongoing, according to an agency spokesperson. Meanwhile, the city is conducting a parallel pilot testing program in five schools, looking for PCBs in caulking.
The EPA has pushed the city to test all schools for PCBs in caulk, but in October the Department of Education said it wanted to wait until after getting the results of the pilot testing program, in part because it was expensive to treat PCB contamination.
