Seattle district identifies odor that forced school to close

From The Seattle Times: The Seattle school district has identified the source of an odor that forced it to close South Shore School. Officials say the facility, which was closed April 16, may be able to reopen for the beginning of the 2010-11 school year. A toxicologist hired by the district found the odor was caused by high pH and moisture content in the concrete flooring, which reacted with the carpet adhesive and carpet backing to produce the chemical methylhexanol. The toxicologist says there are no long-term health effects for students and faculty at the school.

APRIL 2010...from The Seattle Times: Students at South Shore School in Seattlewill move to two different buildings because air-quality problems forced their campus to close. Students in kindergarten through grade five will move to Columbia Elementary, where South Shore was housed while its new building was being constructed. Sixth- and seventh-graders will move to a building at Rainier Beach High School.Earlier...from The Seattle Times: Seattle Public Schools will close a second-floor wing at its new South Shore Schooluntil it can figure out why some students and staff members are experiencing itchy eyes, rashes and other problems. All students in the sixth-grade wing will move to classrooms in other areas of the school. South Shore, which moved into a new building in September, has about 500 students from preschool to grade 7.