[color=red]ATTENTION SAN MATEO GYMNASTICS & TUMBLE TOWN AND PUMP IT UP CLIENTS & STAFF, AND OTHER PETERSON PRODUCTS FACTORY NEIGHBORS!![/color]
You may be exposed to harmful styrene chemical emissions and contaminants from the fiberglass factory, Peterson Products! ...exceeding CDC's MRL Standard for kids' safety!!
** FOR MORE INFO GO TO http://www.cleano2forkids.org **
Online Flyer for Print: http://www.cleano2forkids.org/flyer.php
There are two gymnastics club facilities in Belmont, California (San Mateo Gymnastics & Tumble Town) that are directly next to a fiberglass factory (Peterson Products) emitting potentially
[color=red]harmful styrene contaminants[/color] into the air that are
[color=red]exceeding what the CDC and ATSDR consider protective of children[/color]. There are also homes next to the factory as well as another kids' facility across the street (Pump It Up). The website
www.cleano2forkids.org is a compilation of the findings regarding this issue, the air testing results provided by the County in the summer of 2007, as well as expert responses received, including from the CDC. In fact, Peterson Products was ranked 3rd in 2002 (most recent data) for most polluting in San Mateo County.
[color=red]Why were the permits for the kids gymnastics clubs/facilities issued?[/color]
CDC-INFO (Center for Disease Control) advises the MRL standard for styrene set by
ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) for kids' safety and health, which is 260 micrograms per cubic meter, translating to about
[color=blue]60ppb[/color].
[color=red]Air testing results direct from the County reveal levels which are multiples of this standard, reaching as high as 333ppb - 500 ppb (half a ppm) according to Dirk Jensen from San Mateo County Environmental Health:[/color]
"concentrations I got were ranging from about a few ppb to maybe...around
150...I might have gotten a couple hits up around a
couple hundred ppb...Still nothing that was exceeding ...an exposure limit for an 8-hour work day. ...I was getting about a
third to a half of... a ppm" (7/24/07)
On 7/25/07 Dirk Jensen disclosed air readings around
150,160 ppb, noting
"it's definitely more concentrated as you get closer to the corner of the gymnastics building by the roll-up door" and also "up and down Karen Rd". He also noted that inside Peterson Products "the workers are wearing respirators...
definitely levels above the permissible exposure limit in the work area of the production shop". It is a very highly industrial fiberglass factory, there is no doubt about that. However, Dirk considered the factory emissions as more of a nuisance odor because they are below OSHA's 100 ppm styrene limit in a 8-hour work day, 40-hour work week for workers, and he was not aware of any other standard set for children or the general public.
*check the
Inspection Data section on the Health Risks page for more San Mateo County Environmental Health inspection data
As
Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility (GBPSR) note,
"Workplace standards are typically not intended to be protective for the general population AND many are not protective for workers." In another email from
NRDCinfo's senior scientist Gina Solomon, regarding environmental standards, "Most also are set for adults, not children. The Hazardous Ambient Air Standard for styrene is 512 micrograms (
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