Honokaa Elementary and Honokaa High & Intermediate schools, which closed at midmorning Thursday due to a pesticide odor that sickened about 50 people, will reopen Friday.
Fire personnel tracked the odor to a nearby home where a pesticide was sprayed, the Hawaii County Fire Department said.
The Fire Department said the pesticide used was diazinon with Volck Oil (a registered trademark of Ortho), whose active ingredient is petroleum oil.
The Environmental Protection Agency outlawed the sale of diazinon outdoor, nonagricultural products in 2005 in an effort to eliminate all residential uses of the insecticide. The EPA’s aim was "to protect children and the environment," the EPA said in an online fact sheet.
The EPA fact sheet, updated in 2012, says consumers may use it if they follow all label directions and precautions. "However, consumers should know that EPA took this action to protect children and the environment," the fact sheet states.
The Fire Department’s hazard materials team was summoned at about 9 a.m. when a teacher and students evacuated the woodshop classroom because of the pesticide smell. The hazmat team received more reports of a similar odor throughout the school, fire officials said.
Department of Education officials said about 40 students and 10 adults from Honokaa High & Intermediate who reported feeling symptoms of nausea, dizziness and respiratory problems were sent to nearby medical centers.
There were no medical problems at Honokaa Elementary, but officials closed the 362-student school just before 11 a.m. as a precaution.
All of the 600 students in the intermediate and high school were initially evacuated to the gym. But when fire officials were unable to determine the origin of the smell, DOE officials decided to send the students home just after 10 a.m.
Students who ride the bus were bused home. Parents were also allowed to pick up students who do not catch the bus.
