The nauseating smell that caused a class of Form 2 students at Sacred Heart College to fall ill probably resulted from newly painted walls of the school but strangely enough did not cause other students any problems, according to the Environmental Health Directorate chief.

Clive Tonna was speaking to Times of Malta following Monday’s incident where a group of students had to be rushed out of class after feeling unwell.

There probably wasn’t any ventilation so over the weekend the smell was trapped

A father of one of the affected students at the St Julian’s school said his daughter suffered from a stomach ache, red blotches on her stomach and ran a slight fever.

Other children suffered from nausea, headaches and general lethargy. An ambulance and a doctor from the health clinic were called on site.

Senior school headmistress Carmen Vella had told this newspaper that the incident first occurred on Friday when some students felt unwell after complaining of a foul smell in their classroom.

They were immediately seen by the school nurse and sent home.

Mr Tonna explained the smell only affected two classrooms – one more than the other. On Friday, some workmen began painting the walls of the school facade. However, an investigation into the type of paint used resulted that it was an acrylic, waterproof paint commonly used on building facades.

“There probably wasn’t any ventilation so, over the weekend, the smell was trapped inside the classrooms. The works have been stopped and the students won’t be making use of the affected classrooms for the time being.

“We’ve instructed the janitors to open all the windows early in the morning and we’ve also advised the school that maintenance works such as painting should ideally be undertaken during the holiday period.”

What was “strange”, Mr Tonna admitted, was that four other classrooms along the same first floor corridor should have been affected, but no other students reported any ill effects.

“There is a classroom directly opposite the freshly painted wall and the pupils were not affected. It’s very strange.

“We’re thinking that perhaps one particular class contained a group of students who were allergic to the paint and therefore more badly affected than the rest.”

The directorate also ensured that neighbouring farms were not making use of chemicals that could have caused the smell.

A nearby culvert that was being cleaned was ruled out as the culprit as it was at a distance from the affected classrooms. Teachers and staff did not report feeling ill.