Squadron, Parents To Protest PCBs at PS 146 Monday

Families refuse to wait 10 years before the Department of Education removes toxic PCBs from lighting elements inside schools, announced multiple Brooklyn politicians on Friday.

To prove their point, , parents, members of New York Communities for Change, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, community members and other elected officials will hold a rally on Monday, June 11 at 8:30 a.m. in front of The Brooklyn New School,  located at 610 Henry Street at 3rd Place.

"BNS / BCS parents are concerned and angry that their children, teachers, and staff are exposed every day to toxic chemicals—polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)— that are confirmed contaminants within the school’s hundreds of light fixtures," the statement read.

Last fall, families at PS 146 and MS 448 learned that their shared building could be contaminated with PCBs found in lighting ballasts and caulking installed between 1950 and 1978.

But the schools are far back on the Department of Education (DOE)'s list of hundreds of citywide schools in line for the cleanup—a process that may take up to 10 years.

Since then, parents and to the City to request immediate remediation of contaminated lights, and have documented likely leaks with photographs. Still the City has been unmoved to alter their timeline. 

Over 700 schools in New York City alone could have light fixtures leaking PCBs. Possibly contaminated schools in the neighborhood include, but are not limited to     , , and The full list of schools with possible PCB exposure is available here.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has previously reported that young children may be more vulnerable to PCBs than adults due to their growth rate, metabolisms, and smaller fat depots where PCBs can be sequestered.