September Goal Post

It's no secret that GHS just like any other school contains chemicals. What kinds of chemicals you may ask? In all honesty, I'm not 100% sure. I plan on interviewing our school's maintenance department so I can gather as much information as possible. I'd love to film a bit of the interviews and maybe even document a quick glance at our school's cleaning supplies in a vlog style video for my next Self Designed Assignment. What I do know is that chemicals are lurking in places we wouldn't suspect- according to Safer Chemicals, Healthier Families, "Toxic chemicals are commonly found in schools in a variety of places: PCBs found in old light fixtures, hazardous building materials like PVC floors, some classroom supplies (art supplies), cleaning agents, synthetic fields, and some schools are located near or on toxic superfund sites." This initially shocked me but also helped me lay the foundation for the things I should be investigating in my next SDA.

Although this goal post only needs to state my next SDA plans, I've been thinking a lot about what my course of action might be in time to come. To do a "chemical audit" of the school, I broke down any given school into departments likely to contain the most chemicals. For starters, any room being consistently cleaned via cleaning products. Jennifer Hankey, M.E. of Healthy Green Schools reports that greener cleaning products can reduce asthma symptoms in children. Soap dispensers will need to be looked at as well. What kind of soap are we using? Certain soaps can contain phthalates and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals linked to asthma and birth defects. I will also be looking at the cafeteria knowing that bulk-order foods can often contain pesticides, GMOs, artificial color and flavorings, MSG, and high fructose corn syrup. I have always said that what you put in your body is what you get out- and no, I don't mean ~that~ kind of out. I mean overall health and risk of diseases caused by harmful chemicals. I understand it might be a stretch, but depending on how much I am able to accomplish, I'd like to find out if our synthetic turf on the track contains lead. According to the CDC, even if a turf isn't dangerous upon installation, lead dust levels can elevate as the turf ages.