Holyoke Employees Break Out in Rash

Harvard environmental authorities were called late last week to take air samples from the fifth floor at Holyoke Center, after two employees in the Student Loan Office there broke out in rashes on their faces, necks, and legs.

Industrial Hygienist Louis J. Diberardinis, of the University Department of Environmental Health, speculated this week that fiberglass particles released by careless renovation clean-up on that floor were responding for the rashes.

He said, however, the department will not know the definite cause until next Tuesday, when the full test results are in.

Dast of various kinds has been rampant in the building since the renovations began a few months ago. But Paul F. Leary, associate director of financial operations, said no one suspected until this week that it would turn into a health hazard.

Furthermore, the announcement that fiberglass may be the culprit, caused some surprise because at te time the rashes broke out, the office itself seemed to be free of contaminator, office workers said. Whether fiberglass dust may circulate invisibly in the air was not immediately clear.

What is clear, according to Diberardinis, who helped inspect the site, is that people's sensitives to such particles vary widely and that contact with even a minute amount may cause irritation in some people.

Diberardinis said replacement of old air ducts conducted during the evenings last week would have exposed and probably released a good deal of the half-inch thick fiberglass insulation that covered them.

Workers instructed to keep the office area protected and to clean up thoroughly afterwards were negligent about doing so, he said he suspects.

Clean-Up Crew

Until the source of the problem is known for certain, measures being taken to prevent its recurrance include a thorough mopping and, for the afflicted workers, the opportunity to move to another part of the building, said Leary.

"Whether it is two workers or 200" who are suffering, Leary said, "we are very concerned and will feel much better" when some conclusions are reached and more conclusive steps taken.

However, he said, "It's not of epidemic proportions."

The Holyoke Center renovations, expected to reach completion by early next year, are part of the University's wider and ongoing effort to maintain its older buildings.

The current work will replace the building's original ventilation system and replace it with a more energy-efficient one.

It will also improve the telephones and the lighting in the Student Loan Office, increase the space for computer terminals, adjust acoustics to make each desk area more private, and improve the insulation in the structure.