Test results for lead and asbestos at the Tisbury School were released to the public this week.
Among other things, the testing found elevated levels of chipping, lead-based paint in five classrooms and four bathrooms in the pre-World War II building. Results also detailed high levels of lead in shared use spaces in the school, including the cafeteria, music room and Spanish room.
The testing was recommended by the state Department of Public Health after an air quality assessment was done at the school in the spring. School officials contracted with state-certified lead and asbestos experts, who began work in early August.
Lead testing was conducted by master lead inspector Mel Blackman as part of an OSHA-required, pre-renovation lead-based paint survey. According to Mr. Blackman’s report, testing was done throughout the building, including on walls, doors, trim, radiators, ceilings, baseboards, cabinets and lockers.
The Massachusetts Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program regulations define a dangerous level of lead for residential premises as be equal to or greater than 1 milligrams per square centimeter. OSHA believes exposure to any lead content may cause a health risk.
Results from the report showed that Room 216 — a second grade class — contained the highest concentration of lead paint, with 18.6 to 19.2 milligrams per square centimeter present in the room’s white plaster walls. Ceiling samples also contained lead, measured at 1.7 to 1.9 milligrams.
Small amounts of lead were found in white metal radiators in Room 215, a third and fourth grade special education classroom, and in white plaster walls above the chalkboard in Room 217, a second grade class. Both measured between 1.3 and 1.4 milligrams.
High readings were found in Room 312, an upper-level special education room, and in Room 313, a fifth grade class. Lead levels in those rooms measured between 5.6 and 8.4 milligrams. Like the other rooms, lead was found in plaster walls and metal radiators.
All four bathrooms on the second and third floors of the school contained measurable lead levels, with tests showing lead in the 1.0 to 1.8 milligram range in sheetrock walls. In the music room, lead measuring 1.0 to 1.3 milligrams was found in cinder block walls. Testing on cinder block walls in the Spanish room turned up levels of 3.2 to 3.7 milligrams. In the cafeteria, 1.1 to 1.3 milligrams of lead were found in sheetrock walls.
Other areas that tested positive came in under the threshold.
“The condition of the majority of painted surfaces containing high concentrations of lead paint is loose,” the report stated.
According to school officials and the state DPH, exposure to lead through chipping or loose paint can cause neurological damage in children, especially those under the age of six. Lead was not found in high concentrations in any of the school’s kindergarten and first grade classrooms.
Results from the asbestos testing were also released on Tuesday, showing levels of chrysotile asbestos at two per cent in Rooms 216, 217 and 303. Although low, the levels exceed the state threshold that defines an asbestos containing material.
“There are areas of spot damage, specifically on outside corners. These areas should be removed or repaired (made intact),” the report concluded in part.
Although remediation measures have not been decided, school officials said all remediation work would be completed without children in the facility.
In the interim, older students will start the year off campus while younger grades will remain in the newer 1993 section of the building that has no lead.
Tisbury school committee chairman Amy Houghton said Thursday that the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital will provide free lead testing for all Tisbury School students. Parents will need to call their primary care physician to order the test, and then go to the registration desk at the hospital. Testing will be available beginning next week.
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