Legal action is likely to follow the discovery of traces of the banned insecticide dieldrin in an Invercargill school's water supply.
The health protection officer for Public Health South, Malcolm Walker, said he was following a strong line of inquiry.
It is understood work done at the Otatara School in January could have caused the contamination.
It is believed dieldrin used around the school during that time had drifted on to the school roofs, and rainwater had washed traces of the dangerous chemical into its storage tanks.
The school's water, collected as rainwater from the roof and stored in tanks, was monitored regularly as part of a national water quality programme. A low level of dieldrin was found in a sample taken from the school water in May.
Further tests confirmed the presence of dieldrin and from June 18 parents were advised to send children to school with their own water bottles. A sample taken late last year was normal.
A report by Public Health South for the Otatara School board of trustees says: "It is highly unlikely that there is any health risk from the level of exposure that children and staff have had."
Dieldrin is known to be toxic to humans, affecting the central nervous system and liver. The chemical was deregistered in 1990.
- NZPA
Legal action on Invercargill school poisoning
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