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PCBs in Schools

EPA Inspection results for PCB-containing lighting ballasts in PS 306 in Brooklyn, New York. Twenty-five of Thirty-one Samples Above Regulatory Limit.

Many schools in the United States built before 1979 have ballasts in their fluorescent lighting fixtures that contain PCBs. Ballasts are devices that control the amount of current in an electrical circuit. Until the late 1970s, PCBs were commonly used as insulators in electrical equipment because they have high tolerance to heat, do not burn easily, and are non-explosive.

Congress banned the manufacture of PCBs in the United States in 1977 because of their toxic effects. In 1979, EPA banned the use of PCBs, except in totally enclosed equipment. However, a large number of fluorescent light ballasts that were installed prior to these bans may contain PCBs and may still be in use in U.S. schools.

Intact, operational ballasts containing PCBs may not pose a health risk or environmental hazard. However, as they age, the ballasts degrade.  Depending on the number of operating hours, the typical life expectancy of a fluorescent light ballast is between 10 and 15 years. The failure rate prior to the end of the useful life of ballasts is about 10 percent. After this typical life expectancy, ballast failure rates increase significantly. All of the pre-1979 ballasts in lighting fixtures that are still in use are now far beyond this life expectancy, increasing the risk of leaks or even fires, which would pose a health and environmental hazard.

Recent EPA inspections in New York City public schools found that many light ballasts in these schools contained PCBs and had also failed, causing the PCBs to leak. 

2011 PCB Sampling Summary:
Results EPA has released from the schools that it has inspected to date.

School	Borough	Date of Sampling Event	# of Samples Taken	# Samples Exceeding federal limit of  50 ppm (mg/kg)
PS 53	Staten Island	1/8/2011	33	22
PS 11	Brooklyn	1/15/2011	28	18
PS 13 PS 358	Brooklyn	1/22/2011	7	7
PS 68	Bronx	1/29/2011	13	10
PS 206 PS 37 PS 112	Manhattan	2/5/2011	10 1 3	9 1 2
PS 45	Brooklyn	2/12/2011	19	19
PS 306	Brooklyn	2/19/2011	31	25

 

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