Manila school still closed after chemical leak

Classes remain suspended at Manila Science High School (MSHS) on Taft Avenue, a week after some teachers and students were possibly exposed to some chemicals, including mercury, after a leak occurred in one of the school’s laboratories.

MSHS principal Maria Eva Nacion told the Inquirer in a phone interview on Monday that she would leave the deci- sion about the school reopening to officials of the education and health departments.

The school was ordered shut on March 21 by Wilfredo Cabral, schools division superintendent of the Division of City Schools in Manila, after Nacion informed him of the incident. Classes were suspended starting the following day.

Nacion, meanwhile, declined to identify those who were exposed to the chemicals pending an investigation. All that she would say was that five people were involved: Two students, two teachers and a janitor.

Based on the final report submitted by the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Office (MDRRMCO) on the incident, recovered from the site of the chemical leak were four vials of mercury, three bottles of mercury and three types of unknown radioactive materials with Chinese markings.

According to the MDRRMCO, the chemicals have been surrendered to Nacion who told the Inquirer that she has turned them over to authorities for proper disposal.

She also clarified that contrary to what was reported earlier, none of the five people involved broke a container containing mercury inside the physics (not chemistry) laboratory.

In fact, it was a student who informed a male teacher that some of the containers had holes and chemicals were leaking out of these.

When the teacher checked, he saw a broken glass tube that was part of a science equipment. “No one really broke it. But maybe because it was 20 years old, the glass was already brittle,” Nacion said.

The five people cleaned up the chemical leak and chose not to tell anybody about the incident because they thought that they had gotten it all. But on March 19, one of the teachers finally informed Nacion.

“The teacher told me that they saw more chemical leaking onto the floor. They decided to tell me because they were wor- ried,” she said.

The next day, March 20, Nacion conducted an investigation and the physics laboratory was cordoned off.

Nacion said the students’ welfare was her primary concern so she sought the help of city hall while a private company volunteered to do a cleanup.

She added that East Avenue Medical Center and the Bureau of Fire Protection had conducted tests on the chemicals although they have yet to inform her of their findings.