Nov 19, 2009 8:31 pm US/Pacific
Hidden Hazard: Ice Rink Air
Reporting
Sam Shane
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
Ice rink air -- is it healthy enough for you and your family to breathe?
That question comes from the fact that there are aging ice resurfacing machines, commonly known as the Zamboni, working right now in skating rinks everywhere.
Those are the same rinks you take your kids to.
Older machines and Older rinks could mean the air inside isn't fit to inhale.
Skaters know there's nothing like being the first on the ice after the Zamboni has worked its magic.
But these machines that make the ice smooth are powered by combustible engines.
In fact, they pollute the very air you and your kids breathe.
And that's where adequate ventilation is critical.
Most Zamboni's are fueled by gasoline, or propane or natural gas, which burn cleaner than gasoline, but still pollute.
There is exhaust, and it has to go somewhere, preferably outside.
But is it?
To find out, we tested three area ice rinks, Vacaville Ice Sports, Skatetown in Roseville, and Iceland Ice Arena in Sacramento.
We enlisted the help of Dr. Eric Winegar.
He's an air quality scientist; his company is "Applied Measurement Science."
The professional air monitoring equipment was provided by Equipco, in Concord.
Eric calibrated them in his shop.
Then our producer and photojournalist hit the first rink, Skatetown.
After verifying the monitors were working, they put them inside a backpack, with only the air intake nozzles exposed.
Now it's time to skate.
They spent at least an hour at each rink, skating from one end to the other.
They also walked the bleachers where spectators sit.
And they did it all before, during, and after the Zamboni runs.
After a week of measurements, it was back to the shop to analyze the readings.
"It is good to do exactly what you did. You went to multiple locations so you kinda put things into context" says Dr. Winegar.
Two toxic pollutants are found in the exhaust, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide.
Each can cause numerous health problems including asthma, respiratory infections, even death at high levels.
Our readings show nitrogen dioxide levels were very low at all three rinks.
But carbon monoxide levels were elevated.
You must know that there are no indoor air quality standards in the United States.
Scientists can only compare readings to federal outdoor air standards.
The maximum considered to be safe is 35 parts per million, or ppm, for carbon monoxide.
Inside Skatetown, they had the lowest levels of carbon monoxide at 4.7 ppm, well within federal safety standards
Vacaville Ice Sports had readings from "essentially zero, up to about 18 parts per million" says Dr. Winegar.
It too was well below the federal maximum level of 35.
Finally, we have Iceland Ice Arena in Sacramento.
"The Iceland results showed some possibility for concern" says Dr. Winegar looking at the results.
The carbon monoxide levels inside this rink were very high. In fact, they were eight times the amount of carbon monoxide you'd breathe if you were standing along a Los Angeles freeway during rush hour.
We met with Chris Lord, Iceland's owner since 1981, and gave him our results.
"These are the readings: 41, 47, 48" says Sam Shane to Chris Lord, who's answered "And that would have been."
The air quality inside his arena was 13 points higher than the government's standard for outdoor air quality.
Chris says we got the results we did because we took our measurements three hours after he ran his Zamboni that day.
At the time, he says, he was having carburetor problems.
Sam Shane asks "Did you know that the Zamboni was kickin' out that much pollution? We didn't know it was that high. We knew there was something wrong with it."
Skaters inside the Iceland arena that night were exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide.
Compounding the problem for Iceland, they don't have a system to bring fresh air into the rink, and its two exhaust fans haven't worked since installing a new roof this summer.
Sam asks "But if your vents don't work in here right now, should you even be running any zamboni in the building? We've, I feel, and by the test that we took, there is no pollution."
Chris conducted his own tests after we told him about ours.
He used the same equipment we used, but didn't get carbon monoxide readings.
Chris says he's fixed the problems with their 1974 Zamboni with more repairs and upgrades in the works.
"And now we'll get it done a little bit sooner" he says, admitting that's a direct result of this investigation.
Iceland has been a fixture in Sacramento for 69 years.
Chris says "I've been here since 1962. Never left."
It has a charm that newer rinks don't have.
But on the night of our test, it also had toxic air inside.
"I can't imagine having a whole bunch of people sick in here" says Chris.
Chris Lord says this investigation has made him much more cognizant of air quality and is proactively taking immediate steps to improve Iceland's air.
He says he's installed carbon monoxide detectors (though we haven't been able to verify that), converted his Zamboni to propane (we haven't been able to verify that either), and gotten his exhaust fans running (haven't been able to verify that either, though we plan to for all changes).
Again, all three rinks had elevated carbon monoxide levels, though Vacaville's and Roseville's were below the outdoor air standard.
Right now, there are only two way agencies that could enforce air quality problems in any building, including ice rinks - OSHA and the Health Department.
And that might only happen if there were complaints or lawsuits directly related to health conditions, filed by either employees or customers.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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