[StBernard] Several metro area schools rank near bottom for air quality

[Westley Annis]

Several metro area schools rank near bottom for air quality

08:01 AM CST on Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Scott Satchfield / Eyewitness News 

A new report by USA Today ranks more than 127,000 public, private and
parochial schools around the country not for academic performance, but for
the air quality surrounding them. 

Dr. James Diaz with the LSU School of Public Health examined the report
today. 

"A lot of these agents are agents that are involved in the refining of a
variety of petrochemicals including gasoline," Diaz said. 

The toxins, he says, can cause problems from respiratory irritation to
cancer. 

"There are kids who may be at risk of reactive airways disease, asthmatic
type conditions, bronchitic type conditions, who have airways that are very
reactive and very sensitive to volatile organic chemicals that may
occasionally appear in the air," Diaz said. 

The study uses a computer model simulation to judge the amount of toxic
chemicals released by plants and factories, and how much of it seeps into
campuses. 

USA Today says the model is used by the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Five schools in the metro area ranked in the First Percentile nationally. 

That's the worst category. 

The five include St. Charles Borromeo, Destrehan High, Our Lady of Prompt
Succor in Chalmette, Fifth Ward Elementary in Reserve, and Vincent
Settlement Elementary School in Sulphur. 

Several schools in St. Charles Parish ranked poorly, something some parents
find disturbing, but not surprising. "Living in South Louisiana, of course,
we know that our environment seems to be on the bottom of the list," said
Bliss Davis. 

Dr. Diaz says plants and factories all along the Mississippi River and the
I-10 corridor release a variety of chemicals that can lead to illnesses, but
he says the study shouldn't panic anyone. 

"I don't feel that it's anything to become overtly alarmed about, but it's
something to recognize," he said.