strewn
米コロラド州デンバーにあるオープンスクール（小学校〜高校までの学校，日本の「一貫高」に近い--by 先生）で、運動場の一角に敷かれた木材チップの中から唐辛子の一種ハバネロが見つかり，学校が一時閉鎖されました。
Habanero Peppers Trigger Colorado School Closure
(JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo.) -- School officials in Colorado say six habanero peppers triggered a rash of allergic-like reactions that shut down a Lakewood County public school.
Jefferson County Open School was evacuated Monday afternoon when several children on the school’s playground started coughing and complaining of itchy eyes, officials said.
“In searching the playground area, employees found pieces of approximately six habanero peppers scattered in the wood chips,” Jefferson County Public School District said in a statement. “Coming in contact with the pepper oil would cause many of the symptoms that students experienced.”
How the peppers became strewn across the playground is unclear.
Seven students were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, and roughly two dozen more were treated on site, ABC affiliate KNGH reported. Fire officials ruled out an early theory that fertilizer applied to the school’s soccer field might have triggered the reactions.
Officials are now “in the process of washing the playground equipment and wiping down surfaces inside to ensure that the school is free of any residual pepper oil” when the school reopens Wednesday, according to a statement.
The wood chips in the playground are also being replaced.
strewnはstrewのppで「〈砂・花などを〉〔…に〕まき散らしてある，ばらまかれる」 という意味ですね。以前，先生の授業で発音に苦労した思い出がある単語です。サクラの花がstrewnしているのを見るのは，この時期の風物誌ですが，それがpepper oilだと，これはたまりません。（Ume?）
