Two School-Bus Drivers Fear Illness From Fumes Will Spread

Two Northshore school-bus drivers fear the chemical sensitivity they have acquired from exposure to fumes in the district's new front-engine diesel buses won't go away and will affect others.

The two, recently diagnosed with "multiple-chemical sensitivity," are among several drivers who have felt increasingly ill after driving many of the 35 buses bought in the past two years. Both drivers were exposed to fumes from fuel leaks.

Officials of the district, which embraces Bothell and Woodinville, began investigating the buses last month after reports of illness among drivers. Several drivers have had to radio in for someone to finish their routes after becoming ill.

"I have always been a healthy person," said Carey Jugum, a five-year driver who was diagnosed with the condition Monday and is on a 30- to 60-day leave. "I can no longer go to a grocery store because of the chemicals in laundry detergent. I cannot wear perfume. I am now so chemically sensitive I may never be able to drive a bus again. I have never experienced anything like this."

Multiple-chemical sensitivity is a newly discovered condition, triggered by overexposure to a chemical or combination of chemicals, says Mimi Fields, public-health officer for the state Department of Public Health.

It is occurring increasingly in industrial settings as well as offices with poor ventilation. Sufferers can not tolerate even whiffs of chemicals from seemingly innocuous sources such as perfume or laundry soap.

"Nobody is in exact agreement about precisely what it is, how to test for it, how to diagnose it and what to do about it," Fields said. "It appears to be a sensitivity developed over time to more and more chemicals. It is very real. That is why we are paying a lot of attention to it."

Her office has heard from a number of people who have the condition, cannot work and have been denied assistance because the state Department of Labor and Industries does not recognize it as a work-related illness.

The health department has scheduled a public meeting at 2 p.m. March 22 in Olympia, to discuss the mysterious ailment.

Bill Bailey became increasingly nauseated and disoriented while driving one of the Northshore front-engine buses. He was forced to stay home for two weeks last month after fumes from a fuel leak exacerbated his symptoms, which have ebbed since he switched to driving a rear-engine diesel.

But Bailey is concerned that the district was too slow in getting drivers and children off the buses. The first drivers complained last year.

"When some of the drivers reported that they were ill," Bailey said, the attitude was that they were just ladies smelling diesel fumes and they were being supersensitive.

"I have been made very sick by the bus, and I didn't associate it with the bus for some time.

"I've always liked to work for Northshore. But I don't think they are protecting the drivers and I don't think they are protecting the students."

Some children have been ill and a few parents are now driving their children to school. So far, 10 Northshore drivers have filed formal health complaints with the Department of Labor and Industries, which began investigating the matter this week.

Symptoms of the illness are headaches, nausea, bronchial congestion and disorientation. The school district hired an industrial hygienist last month to determine the cause of the symptoms.

Preliminary tests released this week detected a high level of carbon dioxide, a sign of poor ventilation, said Michelle Copeland, general manager of Schumacher & Associates in Seattle. Both faulty ventilation and exhaust, which is released directly beneath the driver, are likely contributors, Copeland said.

The industrial hygienist plans more tests before completing a report at the end of the month. The district has 119 buses.

"If you are not careful and do not follow a systematic approach you can spend months sampling and not have found any solutions," Copeland said. "We want to find a long-term solution, not a quick fix."

Up to five drivers have switched to the district's 15 spare propane buses, says district spokeswoman Terri Malinowski. Tomorrow, the district plans to pull an undetermined number of problem buses off the road until the cause of the illness is isolated.

None of the drivers in the other school districts represented by the same union - including Seattle, Kent, Lake Washington, Edmonds and Issaquah - has reported becoming ill from driving similar buses manufactured by the Bluebird Company, said John Komar, president of Teamsters Local 763.

Last week Komar sent health questionnaires to all the locals in the state representing school-bus drivers.