Emergency personnel, including the state HazMat Team, responded to Duxbury High School last Wednesday when 40 members of the girls’ varsity lacrosse team complained of upper respiratory distress while practicing on the turf field. According to Duxbury Fire Captain Robert Tripp, who was on the scene, all members of the girls’ team exhibited signs of respiratory distress and complained of tasting blood. The following day, a two-member team from the Department of Public Health (DPH) went to the turf field with officials from the high school, fire department and Department of Public Works to test the area and take samples.

“First our people thought it was mold in the field, but the DPH guys said no way, it’s not,” said Superintendent of Schools Benedict Tantillo, who was offsite during the inspection. “They think it was a very high pollen count because it’s been very dry -- we’ve had less than half the [normal rainfall]. Our pipes drain right into the marsh and between the pollen and the marsh gas coming back into the pipes, that was the cause of the distress.”

Fire Chief Kevin Nord, who was at the scene both times, said the winds and dry conditions make marsh gas poisoning the most likely culprit. The field itself is bowl-shaped and when the wind blew northerly, as Nord confirmed it had that day, the field was sheltered and vapors were allowed to amass. That’s why none of the other teams practicing on nearby fields were affected.

“Their symptoms are consistent with marsh gas poisoning,” said Nord. “That’s why the boys’ track team, the tennis team and baseball, all of which were practicing nearby, didn’t have symptoms.”

Nord said marsh gas poisoning, which contains methane and hydrogen sulfide, can be fatal but the fact that the field is open air was to the team’s advantage. In addition to the assessment he and the team from DPH made, the girls’ symptoms were consistent with marsh gas poisoning. He attributes the issue to a perfect storm of winds, warm weather and lack of snowfall. According to Nord, the drainage system traps for the artificial turf field were flooded Thursday afternoon and that resolved the issue.

A representative of Sportexe, the company that installed the field, said Sportexe has never received a health complaint about their product.

Suzanne Condon, Director of DPH’s Bureau of Environmental Health, agreed. She said the turf field itself was not the cause of the poisoning.

“Both sides of the field had individuals reporting symptoms simultaneously, indicating an exposure that affected the entire area,” said Condon. “This type of symptom pattern suggests a widely distributed gas or vapor, not a particulate.”

The field had been shut down during the investigation and was not reopened until the traps were flooded and the area deemed safe by Health Agent Tracy Mayo later Thursday. The boys’ lacrosse team was able to play its match there later that day. No problems have been reported since.

“The Merck Manual,” the medical professions’ desktop reference guide, places marsh gas in the same category as carbon monoxide.