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The Vermont Dept of Health stands alone in its conservative analysis. No one else in the United States or Europe is close. The Vermont Department of Health is significantly decoupled from other scientists.
The Vermont Dept of Health stands alone in its conservative analysis. No one else in the United States or Europe is close. The Vermont Department of Health is significantly decoupled from other scientists.
EPA vs Vermont Dept. of Health
EPA vs Vermont Dept. of Health
The EPA threshold for high school students is 600ng/m3 (a standard from the Obama-era EPA). This is 40X the level applied to Burlington High School.
As it turns out, even the EPA's levels may be conservative. They are based on tests in monkeys. A scientist for Cambridge Environmental explains here:
EPA numbers may be conservative
EPA site for managing PCBs in schools
Source: Vermont Dept of Health
Europe vs Vermont Dept. of Health
Europe vs Vermont Dept. of Health
Summary: European thresholds are 20 to 200 times higher than Vermont's
In Denmark, any level below 300 ng/m3, which is 20 times Vermont's level, is "not presumed to pose a risk."
Only above 3,000 ng/m3, or 200 times the threshold Vermont is using, is immediate action required. Such as closing down a high school.
Source: Nature - Health Effects of PCBs in Residences and Schools
From the National Institute of Health study below. "The earliest indoor air exposure level was recommended in Germany (1996) set as an annual mean action value of 300 ng/m3, with an intervention value was 3000 ng/m3 (calculated as PCB6 multiplied with a correction factor of 5). Supplementary values were established by the health authority in Schleswig-Holstein including thresholds for recommended indoor cleaning and sanitation procedures. Switzerland prepared a maximal tolerable annual mean value for indoor home exposure to PCB of 2000 ng/m3 and 6000 ng/m3 for exposures in schools and other institutions using the same analytical method as in Germany. The Danish Health and Medicines Authority introduced two recommended action levels for PCB in indoor air (2009): levels exceeding 3000 ng/m3 called for immediate action, and exposure to levels between 300 and 3000 ng/m3 were considered to be a possible health risk requiring an action plan to reduce the levels. This was later modified to specify that levels between 2000 and 3000 ng/m3 required action within one year."
Source: National Institute of Health - Review of PCBs in schools
OSHA vs Vermont Dept. of Health
OSHA vs Vermont Dept. of Health
The OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standard for PCB safety, which governs workplace safety in America, is 1 mg/m^3. A milligram is 1,000,000 times a nanogram. This means that the VT standard is actually 67,000 times higher than the Federal standard for workers. This applies to adults only.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has a standard of 1 microgram/m^3 which is still 670 times higher than VT.
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