The mercury found in an old poured resilient gym floor of a Pembroke, N.C. high school is off gassing at a rate 120 times higher than what the school district considers safe, according to The Robesonian.
The mercury was found by a flooring firm hired to redo Purnell Swett High School’s gym floor. The school board conducted an off-gassing test at the urging of the district’s maintenance director, and the results showed that 2,446 nanograms per cubic meter of mercury were being emitted from the flooring.
“Your baseline is 20 [nanograms per cubic meter],” the maintenance director told The Robesonian.
The discovery of mercury in the floor increased the cost to redo the floor considerably. The final cost, including floor removal, abatement, sanitation and retesting of the bleachers, of installing a new floor is estimated at more than $325,000.
The school board also had the middle school floor tested for mercury. A small amount of mercury was found in the original floor, but that floor is now covered up with a new floor, so the mercury is contained.
The sports editor of The Robesonian, Frank Taylor, is seeking information from HF’s readers who have experience with this type of flooring. He asked that our readers contact him if they can share their expertise on mercury exposure over many years or on the appropriate solution for this issue. He can be reached at mailto:[email protected].
