The mercury is currently at safe levels and therefore harmless, Superintendent Mary Ann Bell says
The Burlington Township School District recently announced the gymnasium floor in the B. Bernice Young Elementary School has tested positive for mercury. Superintendent Mary Ann Bell has assured students, staff and families the levels are safe and will be continued to be tested until the floor is removed in June.
“I don’t think the levels are a problem, and I don’t think they’ll be a problem,” Bell said.
Bell released a letter to families in mid-February describing how the district became aware of the mercury and what is being done to eradicate the issue.
The district had already planned to replace the floor that was installed in 1994 as part of a construction project.
“During the preparation for the gymnasium floor replacement, the district became aware of important information that must be shared with our school community,” Bell’s letter reads. It goes on to say the district learned the rubberized gym floor likely contained mercury. “The district further learned many manufacturers of this type of flooring used mercury in the manufacturing of rubberized polyurethane floors to keep the rubber flexible over time.”
Mercury is able to assist in keeping the floor flexible due to its property of being liquid at room temperature.
Bell says she learned of the possibility when a potential contractor brought up the need to test the floor.
On Jan. 11, the test came back positive for mercury. Bell had a certified industrial hygienist and environmental scientist visit the school. The consultant advised any potentially harmful mercury levels would come from vapor in the air. Bell had the air in the gymnasium tested that day to determine how much mercury vapor was present.
“The consultant immediately determined there was no threat to the people who use the gymnasium on a daily basis, based on the standards for mercury vapor exposure,” Bell’s letter reads.
Bell had the air tested again that evening and the following morning to be sure, and all three levels came back safe. She says if the levels had been harmful, the district would have notified families immediately. Because the levels were deemed safe, Bell wanted to take the time to gather enough information to reassure families before releasing a letter.
“It took us a little bit of time to get ourselves comfortable enough to be able to speak about it and print out enough information to try to help our community,” Bell said. “Because it was certified safe, I wanted to make sure we had a lot of information before we went out.”
At the request of Young School staff members, the gymnasium office was also tested and was found to have levels even lower than the gymnasium.
It is anticipated the levels will become dangerous only when the floor is removed. During this time, Young School will be closed, and all employees will be relocated. The abatement will happen in the summer as to not inconvenience students and should take somewhere between two and three weeks. The gymnasium will be sealed, and Bell says the air levels surrounding the school should remain safe but will be tested.
The floor will be removed by qualified personnel and packaged in hazmat, or hazardous material, boxes and disposed of properly.
The floor will be replaced with another flexible floor, but it will be a rolled version as opposed to a poured version. According to Bell, manufacturers stopped using mercury in floors in the mid-2000s.
Once the floor is replaced and everything is cleaned, the air levels will be tested to ensure they are at safe levels. After that, there will be no need to test mercury levels.
“The most important thing we want to make sure our families know is that we are at safe levels,” says Liz Scott, director of human resources and community relations for the district. “There is no danger. We’re going to take every precaution when it comes time to remove the floor to make sure it’s done properly.”
Mercury is a naturally occurring element best known for the material used in thermometers, but is included in many household items such as batteries, light bulbs and electronic devices. It is also found in air, water and soil, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Levels of mercury vapor in the air can be affected by temperature and ventilation. Unlike many school gyms, the Young School gym is air conditioned and air is cycled out at a rate of three rooms per hour, according to Bell.
“If there was something to worry about, we would have done something — that I can’t stress enough,” Bell said. “We were not going to leave people in some type of situation that was hazardous if we were aware of it.”
Rubberized floors containing mercury have begun to garner attention. In January, the New Jersey School Boards Association sent a release to all districts in the state providing guidance on limiting the hazard of rubber-like floors. The release says cool temperatures, good ventilation and ongoing air sampling are important when mercury is present in floors. Burlington Township School District is taking all of these precautions.
Health effects caused by short-term exposure to high levels of mercury vapors include cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, a metallic taste in the mouth, vision problems and headaches, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Long-term exposure health effects include anxiety, anorexia, loss of appetite, sleeping problems, tremors, forgetfulness and changes in vision and hearing.
Medical questions should be directed to individual health-care providers, and technical questions regarding mercury can be directed to the United States Environmental Protection Agency at (866) 337–5669.
A Q&A link is available on the school website, www.burltwpsch.org. Those with non-medical and non-technical questions and concerns can call or email Bell.
