|
Chemical Vapours in Schools Take the
case of Ryan. When he was four, he began going to school. He would leave feeling
fine, but come home feeling weak and tired, clinging tightly to his mother.
While in the gym at his school, he became so weak that he had to be carried
out. Ryan’s mother noticed that they sprayed the table tops and rest area of
his classroom with a popular aerosol disinfectant. Ryan’s
doctor, an environmental specialist, tested Ryan. She sprayed a four inch
area of a paper towel with the same disinfectant and placed it a few feet
away from Ryan. Within thirty minutes, Ryan was obviously different. He could
no longer hold his pencil and his writing skills completely collapsed.
Several tests confirmed his reaction. William, another eight-year-old boy,
had a similar reaction when exposed to chlorine fumes. Ryan’s
reaction might be considered severe, but it represents a growing number of
young people who are reacting to chemicals in the air in their homes and
school. I wonder how many children experience learning problems because of
chemicals in the environment. Even if the number is only slight, it is unacceptable.
We should try to remove any possible impediment from our children’s future,
and that begins with providing the healthiest home possible. Eight-year-old
Peter’s first class in the morning was taught by a teacher who smoked heavily
and smelled strongly of perfume. In this class, arithmetic, Peter typically
had difficulty remembering, thinking, and completing his work. His teacher
noticed on some days he could not even add two and two. Peter
improved over the course of the morning when he had another teacher who did
not smell of either tobacco or perfume. However, the smell of perfume from
lunchroom assistants and the odour of cleaning products from the kitchen
caused his ability to learn and concentrate to deteriorate again. Peter’s
doctor confirmed his sensitivities to many chemicals. Perfumes,
colognes, and fragrances can contain harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde,
toluene, ethanol, acetone, methyl chloride and benzene derivatives. All can
damage the nervous system. Peter now goes to school with an oxygen cylinder
in case he has a severe reaction. Eleven-year-old
According
to Sherry Rogers, M.D., also an environmental specialist,
the symptoms produced by chemical sensitivity are as varied as the people
affected. While children like Peter and Warren might react with a breakdown
of learning ability, children like Charles become hyperactive. When
Charles was six years old, he would make very loud noises, become
uncontrollably bouncy, and hit other children when exposed to certain
chemicals. Fumes from furniture polish affected him so strongly that he told
his mother he wanted to jump off the roof! These
stories hardly reflect the array of reactions that children who are
chemically sensitive exhibit. Reaction is unpredictable and can change in
time. The bottom line is: you can protect your children. You can limit, if
not eliminate, their exposure to neurotoxins. By switching to brands that do
not use chemicals like phenol and formaldehyde, you can help them reach their
full potential. |