CLEVELAND, Ohio — Melanie Parker has been a teacher at Tremont Montessori School for 17 years, and says a number of her colleagues have had severe health issues.
"We've had these concerns for a while," Parker told reporters. "There's been a lot of staff members that have had a lot of illnesses over the years — brain cancer, brain tumors, lung cancer, serious illnesses."
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, radon is the No. 1 cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. Tuesday night, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District held a private meeting to discuss health concerns over radon levels with families and staff, but did not allow 3News cameras in.
District officials would not give an interview, but said the principal requested air quality testing — which includes mold, asbestos and radon — after a staff member had a health issue. However, they could not elaborate on what that issue was or if it was cancer-related.
Per a report from GETCO, a Cleveland-based environmental consultant hired by CMSD, testing was done from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1. The results showed that multiple areas in the school's basement had radon levels above the EPA's recommended safe level.
The report stated the EPA has set action levels of radon within a building at 4.0 picoCuries per litre (pCi/L). Most of Northeast Ohio has levels between 2 to 4 pCi/L, with the average outdoor background radon level at 0.4 pCi/L.
One of the two gymnasiums was at 4.2 and 4.1 pCi/L. A custodial storage room was at 9.7 pCi/L, and another storage room that the district reported a couple band students would sometimes practice in was at 7.2 pCi/L.
CMSD says it closed off all of those rooms and has done the recommended mitigation, like ensuring proper ventilation, flushing, and filling traps, among other measures. But Parker still has questions over how accurate the testing is, with concerns that the levels could actually be higher.
"We're just concerned about the validity of the test, because it doesn't sound like they're following protocol," she expressed. "They're supposed to follow closed-building protocol, and that's not happening — windows are open, doors are open."
The district said it is still waiting on more results and plans to continue with testing this week, as students are off Friday for a development day and Monday for President's Day. However, the EPA and Ohio Department of Health recommend testing be done while students are present.