The Blue Mountains-based Campaign Against Unflued Gas Heating (COUGH) is calling on the NSW Department of Education and Training to stop “passing the buck” when it comes to responsibility for children’s safety.
The call came after a spokesperson from the department told the Sydney Morning Herald on January 4 it had not yet received a complete copy of a NSW Health study completed in 2005.
The Hunter New England Area Health Study done in private schools in 2005 found low-emission unflued gas heaters in NSW classrooms produce high levels of nitrogen dioxide, a poisonous gas known to induce asthma attacks and respiratory problems.
The study found both older and newer “low-nox” model heaters are capable of producing high nitrogen dioxide levels in classrooms.
The heaters were also found to release carbon monoxide and formaldehyde that can cause headaches, drowsiness and trigger asthma attacks.
Since then, NSW Health released a public health warning to parents on World Asthma Day about the harmful effects of unflued gas heaters on their child’s asthma, based on research it obtained.
Similar warnings are included in the State Government’s own EnHealth brochure, reported in the Blue Mountains Gazette in early 2007.
COUGH spokesperson and Blackheath Public School parent Richard Kalina told the Gazette on January 9 his group made the Education Department aware of the findings of the 2005 study by NSW Health two years ago, along with studies and observations COUGH did at Blackheath Public School.
“It is a blatant lie that the education department has not seen the 2005 study,” Mr Kalina said.
“We’ve since been informed that the CSIRO did air quality testing at Blackheath Public School in August and that we would get copies of the findings, but we haven’t yet.”
Mr Kalina said replacement of unflued gas heaters in the Blue Mountains is “extremely urgent” because the cold climate in the region meant heaters have to be turned on for twice as long as in Sydney schools, while windows and doors are to be left open as required by the Department for “safety” reasons.
The Blue Mountains has a 40 per cent greater rate of asthma within its population than the NSW average according to Sydney West Area Health figures and Katoomba has the highest rate of asthma of any town in greater western Sydney for children aged 0-14 years.
“The buck-passing has to stop between the Education Department and NSW Health — they’re glacial — they don’t want to move on their policy.”
COUGH is now looking to Member for Blue Mountains Phil Koperberg to establish a breakthrough on the issue with the NSW Education Minister.
In a positive development, Mr Koperberg told the Gazette on Monday he is working to do that.
“I had met with both the Minister and Director General of Education and have been given an assurance that this issue is to be addressed by the provision of alternative heating sources as soon as possible,” Mr Koperberg said.
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