Dr. Keri Hornbuckle and Dr. Peter Thorne were interviewed by numerous newspapers and National Public Radio after the release of their findings of PCBs in schools in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The study was done over a 3 year time period and indicated that all six schools studied had airborne PCBs present in their classrooms. PCBs were measured inside and outside of the classrooms.

Air outside of the four East Chicago schools is very similar to air near the Indiana Harbor and Shipyard. Air inside the classrooms varied depending on the age of the school building. Those built during peak production years of PCBs for building materials had the highest levels of PCBs. In addition, this was the first study of OH-PCBs in schools. It was also the first study to indicate that exposure through airborne PCBs levels might be higher than exposure through dietary PCBs levels in some schools.

Picture is courtesy of Tim Schoon.