EPA studying PCBs in city schools

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency and New York City have announced a pilot program to address the problem of potentially hazardous PCBs in construction materials in some city schools.

According to the EPA, hundreds of schools across the United States have caulk around windows and doors that contain PCBs.

Under the agreement announced Tuesday, New York City will conduct a pilot program in five schools to determine the best way to minimize exposure to PCB-contaminated caulk.

PCBs are formally known as polychlorinated biphenyls. They are chemicals that were widely used in construction and electrical materials before they were banned in the late 1970s.

PCBs can hurt the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems and can cause cancer if they build up in the body over long periods of time.