Students at two more Ottawa schools were exposed to the same pesticide application that sickened dozens of children at an elementary school. The Ottawa Public School Board confirmed today that the pesticide sprayed for cockroaches was also used at the Adult High school and Rideau High. Rideau High school on St. Laurent Boulevard was sprayed last September; the Adult High school on Rochester was sprayed in mid-April.  In both cases, not as many cockroaches so less spray, less exposure and far fewer problems.  Still, this has many parents and students wondering tonight who else was exposed to this?

Students at the Adult High school were just learning about the exposure to pesticide as they showed up for class today.

‘This is the first time I heard about it,’ said one young man as he headed into the school.

The company Rentokil sprayed April 10 at the Adult high school, one day before the same insecticides were used at Charles H. Hulse School.  The elementary school has now been closed after 30 children and 7 teachers fell ill.  All that was fresh on the mind of students at the adult school today.

‘Scary frightening,’ says student Justin Cartwright, ‘why would it even be a question they are using harmful pesticides in a place that has 1400 people there?’

‘Kinda scary,’ adds Kieren Yeo, ‘I came back to finish my education so I guess it was bad time to do it.’

Two staff members reported watery eyes and headaches.  Testing today by the Ministry of Labor and Public Health found no lingering issues and so it was business as usual today.

At the school board office, however, there was an unusual twist with confirmation the same pesticide was used at Rideau High school in September -- with no reported illness.  Now the board is doing an inventory of all its schools to find out where else it's been used .

‘I understand this is confusing for people and in that confusion, anxiety increases,’ says Norah Marsh, the assistant director of education for the Ottawa Public District School Board.

Ottawa Public Health is trying to reassure parents and students, saying no one has shown any signs of toxic exposure to the pesticide. 

Dr. Vera Etches is the Associate Medical Officer of Health, ‘What we're getting reports are of symptoms that are certainly concerning people; irritated eyes, headaches, sore throat. They are bothersome to people but these are more consistent with the solvent, the vehicle that carries the pesticide (than the pesticide itself.’

Nonetheless, the clean-up continues at Charles Hulse school and so do parents' concerns.

The priority for the board right now is getting those children back to Charles Hulse school.  The drywall is being ripped out this week and replaced.  The hope is the students can be back by next week.

Ottawa Public Health has produced this fact sheet on the health effects of the pesticide used.

 

 

 Q&A

Health effects of pesticide used at Charles H. Hulse Public School

April 23, 2015

1. What insecticides were used at Charles H. Hulse Public School?

An insecticide is something used to kill bugs. Two different insecticides were used at Charles H. Hulse Public School on April 11, 2015. Both had a chemical called propoxur in the insecticide. An aerosol can, like hairspray, was used for one kind of insecticide; the other was more oily. There are other ingredients in the products used to help the insecticide work better; for example, the applications used at Charles H. Hulse PS included a mixture of other chemicals called solvents – isopropanol and paraffin.

The insecticide was applied by an experienced, licensed pest control operator that has a contract with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board to get rid of bugs and other pests. Health Canada is testing to be sure that all the ingredients in the insecticides are identified. Health Canada took samples by swabbing different surfaces where the insecticide was used and took a product sample of the insecticide that was used. As of April 23, the results are not back yet.

2. What is Propoxur?

Propoxur has been used widely in Canada since the late 1950’s. It is used in different forms, including sprays, gels, powder, room “foggers”, insect traps and tapes, and in flea & tick collars for pets.

3. I heard that this may be an unapproved pesticide or that Health Canada has changed the label instructions on where this pesticide can be used. Is that true?

The pesticide propoxur is approved for use in Canada at many different places including indoors and outside of buildings, in vehicles such as boats, ships, trucks, and trains and on pets.

Recently, there were changes on how to use propoxur. The old instructions said that propoxur could be used in many different indoor and outdoor situations.

In April 2014, Health Canada (HC) changed the label requirements. It recommended that some of the stronger concentrations stop being used inside homes and places people live and spend long periods of time. These locations include schools, public buildings, day care facilities, passenger areas of trains, buses or airplanes and other indoor locations where children may be exposed. Use in pet collars has stopped and there were other suggestions for protecting the people who apply the insecticide.

The pesticide application at Charles H. Hulse Public School followed the old label instructions.

4. Where was the insecticide sprayed in the Charles H. Hulse school building?

OPH was told that the insecticide was applied in Room 120 (daycare) and the washroom in room 113 as well as the staff washroom.

5. What are the expected potential health impacts of exposure to the chemical?

If people have been exposed to high levels of propoxur, they may have symptoms like increased sweating and salivation, watery tearing eyes, pinpoint pupils, headache and stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhea. Twitching small muscles, not feeling well in general and muscle weakness may also occur.

This chemical does not stay in your body for a long time, so the effects go down within hours of leaving the area of exposure.

The other ingredients in the product include isopropanol and paraffin, which may smell of alcohol or gasoline. They can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat. Some people may have headache and dizziness. People may find the smell of the chemical bothers them, but the effects of the smell are not linked to long term health effects.

If someone ate or drank a large amount of this product such as with an accidental poisoning, there could be more serious health problems, such as vomiting, diarrhea, confusion, and incoordination.

6. What could have caused the symptoms reported by some of the staff and students at Charles H. Hulse Public School?

People who were at the school the week of April 13th reported burning eyes, scratchy or irritated throat, itchy skin and headaches. A few people reported they were nauseous, sweating more than usual, were weak or clumsy, that they had vomited or had diarrhea, and some reported being confused. Some of these people went to see a doctor but nobody to our knowledge was hospitalized.

Many of these reported symptoms are what is expected among people who breathe solvent-like products and are not what is expected from breathing in the propoxur itself. Breathing these solvents over a long time can result in symptoms like skin rashes, itching, dryness and redness, while repeated high exposures can lead to headaches, dizziness, confusion and clumsiness.

Based on the information we have today, it appears that the solvents caused people’s symptoms rather than the insecticide part of the product.

7. Are there long-term effects that may occur?

No long-term health impacts to staff and children who were at the school or daycare are expected. Steps have been taken at the school building to clean all surfaces in the school that could have any of the insecticide on them.

8. Should pregnant women at the school be worried?

No studies found any reason for pregnant women or their unborn babies to be worried from the kind of exposure that happened at this school.

9. Will there be any air quality testing done?

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) has been looking into the problems at the school and have taken some air tests in different areas of the school.

10. How and why was OPH involved?

OPH has a role to investigate reported health hazards in our community and notify other government agencies that may have roles related to health hazards. These other government departments include the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the Ontario Ministry of Labour.

OPH has been involved in the investigation of the pesticide use at Charles H. Hulse PS since April 13 and has been at the school every day since we found out about the problem. We also did a phone survey of some students and teachers that were away from school to find out if it was because of the air quality or for other reasons.

On Monday, April 20, Ottawa Public Health learned a chemical smell had come back at the school. As well, some school staff who returned to the school location on Monday, April 20 had symptoms come back. OPH has been working with other government inspectors to find the cause of the problem.

11. Is there anything more that can be done to get rid of the smell?

Inspectors who are investigating have made several recommendations about how to clear the air and get rid of the remaining insecticide product used in the school. These include:

 changing the carbon filters on the air cleaners in the daycare room

 closing the daycare doors so the smell doesn’t spread to the rest of the building

 installing carbon filters on the building heating and ventilation system

 discarding everything that was stored in the room such as food wrap, diapers, etc.

 ventilating the room to the outdoors through open windows

 

12. I (or my child) have had health symptoms from this incident but I haven’t been contacted by OPH? Why hasn’t anyone contacted me?

In order to determine how severe any health symptoms people were having and a possible link to the chemical exposure, OPH collected information from a sample of school staff and parents of children. OPH will not be doing any more calling now that the questions of severity of symptoms and link to the chemical have been answered.

13. If people think they are still having symptoms what should they do?

If students or staff are still having health problems that they think may be linked to the time they breathed in the strong smells, they should call their doctor or go to a walk in clinic. They are also welcome to call OPH at 613-580-6744. Staff of the daycare or school can also contact the Ontario Ministry of Labour at 1-800-267-1916.

14. How will further information be shared?

OPH will continue to work with the OCDSB and the Andrew Fleck Childcare Services and these agencies will share OPH information with staff and parents of children who attend the school