WESTERLY, R.I. --

It was an unexpected end to the school day for more than a dozen students at Westerly High School on Friday, after they apparently got sick from fumes in a biology classroom.

The first incident happened at about 8 a.m. when two students fainted within a few minutes of each other.

About an hour later, more students complained of symptoms and everyone in the science wing was moved to the auditorium.

"We had an evacuation at like 9 o'clock this morning," one student said.

A total of 17 students and one teacher were affected, and seven people were transported to Westerly Hospital.

"There was something related to a chemical in the biology lab. They shut down the science wing, and they're not letting any of the kids go in there," said student Jordan Degiacomo.

All of the students who felt sick were either in the biology classroom or adjacent to it. The class had planned to dissect a cow's heart and other specimens, preserved with a chemical called formalin.

"For a lay person, formalin perhaps could be watered down formaldehyde," said Chief David Sayles of the Westerly Fire Department.

Sayles called in the Hope Valley-Wyoming hazardous materials team and the Department of Environmental Management as a precaution.

Read the original:
Biology class chemical makes students sick