Public health specialist challenges authorities to provide proof campus is safe
last year, The Sunday Post first revealed the concerns over the water supply at the Buchanan High and St Ambrose campus. Pupils and teachers were told not to drink tap water and North Lanarkshire Council blamed the problem on corrosion in the pipework causing a “copper solution”.
we obtained the results of tests carried out in November which had shown the amount of copper in the water was more than three times the permitted levels in the home economics room and nearly double in the school kitchen.
The Sunday Post broke the story that four teachers at Buchanan High had been diagnosed with bladder cancer. Three worked in the same corridor. We also told of Josephine Morgan, who raised concerns over a link with the school after her son suffered sudden eyesight loss and tests found high levels of arsenic in his system.
we revealed teachers were set to strike over safety fears at the schools. And two of the teachers battling bladder cancer spoke exclusively to The Post, saying they felt betrayed by officials’ denial of any problem and calling for a public inquiry into the potential health risks.
we told of parents’ anger after health chiefs wrote to GPS telling them there is no need to test pupils from the schools. The Sunday Post also revealed at least four children attending the schools have been found to have high levels of arsenic, according to their parents.
Aleading public health expert is calling for the government inquiry into a cancer cluster school to be broadened with a greater range of tests.
Professor Andrew Watterson said he “welcomed” new instructions from Deputy First Minister John Swinney to test water and soil at the Buchanan High and St Ambrose campus in Coatbridge where four teachers have developed bladder cancer. But he said
those new investigations needed to be extended, to include checks on air quality and tests of individual pupils and staff.
Professor Watterson, who has worked for the World Health Organisation, said the protocol for the review “did not go far enough”.
He said: “There are still many areas that need to be addressed if we are to get the whole picture, and they include testing the air as well as the soil and water – tests Mr Swinney has now asked for.
“The new additions on environmental monitoring are a good step forward, but I believe the parents have legitimate concerns about the health and safety of their children.
“There are certain substances such as arsenic which do need to be tested for. I’m also concerned that NHS Lanarkshire and North Lanarkshire Council continue to make statements and give assurances, but they have failed to provide the evidence to support what they are saying.”
The professor said the health board needed to properly explain exactly what tests and investigations it had carried out and why it insisted the campus was not linked to the illnesses. Professor Watterson, of Stirling University, said: “All of that has to be made clear and made available to the public.”
The Scottish Government said last week that the review would include soil and water testing as well as testing of the membrane used to contain the output of methane gas from the former dump site underneath the schools. Josie Morgan, whose son Tommi was tested and found to have more than six times the normal level of arsenic, continues to believe his sudden blindness is linked to the school.
She said: “While we welcome the review team’s decision to include soil and water testing at the campus, the new instructions by the review group still do not go far enough.
“Until all the children and staff are properly tested and we get the truth about what has been causing so many illnesses, we won’t be happy. “The government took too long to act and now the children have been away from the school environment for too long for most contaminants to show up in tests.
“We feel a vital opportunity has been lost. If tests had been carried out immediately, we could have learned so much to help our own kids and serve to prevent this happening in the future.” Tommi, 13, who has autism, went blind in October.
NHS Lanarkshire and North Lanarkshire Council insist there is no link betwee the school and Tommi’s condition, or four teachers all developing bladder cancer at Buchanan High.
Tommi’s mum Josie, of Plains, Lanarkshire, said: “Their suggestion that Tommi’s blindness could be diet-related is ridiculous. I’ve seen two specialists who think otherwise.
“If the NHS had acted quickly instead of writing to GPS to tell them they don’t support testing, perhaps we would all be closer to finding out what has really been going on at that school.”
Josie’s concerns have been echoed by MSP Alex Neil, who said: “We must get to the bottom of what has gone wrong here and what needs to be done to prevent this happening again.
“To do that the public health authorities must collate all the health problems raised with GPS. The results should then be used to decide whether we need to consider testing the children. “Parents are concerned because too many illnesses with commonality are being flagged up – headaches, fatigue, blurred vision, and nose bleeds. “Unless we get to the root of what’s causing these problems, the community will not be satisfied.”