The area found that nearly half of Pasadena unified schools were contaminated with soil.
The area found that 11 of the 23 Pasadena Unified School District schools that students returned to campus since January had polluted the soil after the Eaton fire.
According to results released Wednesday, more than 40% of schools have exceeded the state's health restrictions on residential soil, and more than 20% of arsenic levels exceed what Los Angeles County considers acceptable.
The area found that the allowable limit of 80 mg per kilogram of soil next to the tennis court at Blair High School was more than three times the allowable limit for four primary schools. Lead may cause Permanent brain and nerve damage in childrenleading to slow development and behavioral problems.
Arsenic is a known carcinogen at a concentration of 92 mg/kg in the Saint-Raphael Primary School. Based on the highest estimates of natural arsenic levels throughout southern California, the county has used 12 mg/kg as a reference level. According to a 2019 study by the U.S. Geological Survey, the natural background levels of arsenic in Altadena and Pasadena range from 4 to 10 mg/kg.
There is no safe exposure level for arsenic or lead.
“I'm worried about her safety,” said Nicole MacCalla of her daughter, a sixth-grade student at Octavia E. Butler Magnet, who is less than a mile from the Eaton Fire Burn Burn area. “I really want to make sure she is physically safe when she is in school.”
Instead, what she got was School Map Lead levels released in the area are 40% and 70% higher in soil samples taken near school entrances and outdoor lunch tables, respectively.
“If you literally have to walk through the steps of leadership to get to school, how many kids walk through that in their shoes and walk into the classroom?” McCalla said. “This is not an enclosed area where these inaccessible areas are.”
Maccalla made a tough decision, even with early fears, her daughter returned to school in January – worried that there would be too much trauma to move directly after the fire.
Along with other parents involved, McCalla has been pushing soil testing for soil and indoor testing at school board meetings. Until April, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced 80% of the properties found In some areas where environmental companies are employed in the area, the leading level exceeds the state's standards verdantas Testing in school.
“The school board is very resisting to any requests for testing by parents,” she said. “The director has been saying it's safe.” The parents' answer: “Prove it.”
The region released test results for the 33 properties it owns – some with regional schools and children's centers, some with charters and private schools, and some with nonprofits, all largely unscathed by the fire. Students have returned to class in the 22 properties that own public schools since late January. The complete results of each school’s map can be found in School district website.
The area noted on its website that “there is no indication of the dangerous level of exposure of students or staff to fire-related substances in the soil” and noted that any contaminants found are highly localized. (For example, seven samples from Blair High School determined the increase in lead levels, but 21 samples did not.
The health agency also recommends that grass or cement-covered soils in the area are unlikely to pose health risks.
In response to the results, the area said it would restrict access to contaminated areas, complete subsequent sampling and repairs throughout the summer. It will not affect classroom guidance.
“We want to be very clear: safety is not negotiable,” Elizabeth Blanco said in a press release. “That’s why we need to move forward with urgency and care.”
It was too late for Maccalla. “I wondered their plan was to monitor the health of the child because you have kids who have played in that soil for four months in a row,” she said. “So what are their health crisis mitigation plans?”
The test results also found that on a campus, high levels of chromium (a carcinogen in some chemical configurations). Another high level of pollutant is called Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonsThis can cause headaches, coughs, skin irritation, and prolonged exposure, which may increase the risk of cancer.
Three of the five properties in the district’s children’s center also have high levels of heavy metals – two with lead and one with arsenic.
When Maccalla – volunteered with community advocacy groups to participate in the fire, she spent a lot of time Eaton Fire Residents Unity – First seen a map of her daughter's school, she began to develop a plan to gather volunteers to cover the contaminated areas with mulch and compost before arriving at the school bus again Monday morning. (That's Expert-approved remedial techniques Soil suffering from fire. )
“If the area doesn't do that, the state won't do that, our counties won't do that, our cities won't do that, well, citizens will. We will definitely do it,” she said.
