Asbestos in schools a continued health threat

By Meg Farrell
26 February 2016

Across America, there are students, teachers, school staff, and administrators who are
unknowingly breathing in a harmful carcinogen every day.
In todays world, we cant send our children off to school without worrying. Will they be bullied,
will there be a tragedy, a terror threat, or a natural disaster? The amount of terrifying scenarios
doesnt seem to cease, and one of the real threats might not be a scenario at all, but a threatening
airborne substance.
We often think of asbestos as a thing of the past, but there are still hundreds of schools across
America where asbestos is being discovered.
The presence of asbestos is a continued health threat in schools today. This mineral, which is
highly destructive and has cancer-causing materials, was once widely used in the construction of
schools for its fire-retardant qualities. Today, asbestos can still be found hiding in places such as
floor and ceiling tiles, cement, paint, and bulletin boards.
Across the nation, most states and school districts conduct regular checks for asbestos in schools,
and this year marks the 30th anniversary of the federal Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response
Act, which was signed into law in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan. According to Dick Uliano
with Wtop, a Washington, D.C. based news source, the law aims to protect students, teachers and
school staff from the dangers of asbestos.
Although this law aims to protect school communities, it does not protect against the long-term
side affects, as the use of asbestos in building materials is still legal in the United States, as long
as the material has not failed to be taken care of properly.
In spite of the fact that there are known health risks from being exposed to asbestos, the United
States is one of the developing countries which still allows its use.
There are many officials who are fighting this battle against asbestos in schools, and Bill Walker
with Asbestos Nation claims that in January 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit
against Idaho Falls School District for fir[ing] its environmental health engineer in retaliation for
her raising concerns about asbestos removal.

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Under the law signed in by Reagan, it is illegal to fire an employee who has a concern about
asbestos. Getting rid of asbestos from school buildings can be timely and costly, which is why so
many school districts are still attempting to sweep their issues under the rug.
One school in Berkeley, California attempted to do just that. Walker states that [f]or at least five
months in 2010, children who attended Washington Elementary School in might have been
exposed to asbestos.
Joey Rosenberg, a researcher and content writer for The Mesothelioma Center, says that as long
as asbestos building materials remain in good condition, the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) insists they pose minimal health risks and recommends schools leave them in place.
Asbestos can be unveiled from its hiding place with something as simple as paint chipping from
the wall, a ceiling tile caving in, or a floor tile upending. From wear and tear, and years upon
years of use, an incident such as this frequently occurs, and when it does occur, the risks are too
dangerous to simply leave asbestos materials to chance. Rosenberg quotes the EPA in that
asbestos-containing materials reside in many of the approximately 132,000 primary and
secondary schools in the nation.
The EPA states that [t]hese schools serve more than 55 million children, and are the worksites
for more than 7 million teachers, administrators and support staff. United States officials do not
understand or take these known health risks as seriously as other countries have. To date,
developed countries such as France, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have all
banned this carcinogenic substance.
According to Michelle Y. Llamas at constructonomics.com, Many doctors and researchers
predict that the number of people who develop asbestos-related disease has yet to peak.
Just last month, it was released that a retired schoolteacher from England suffered a cancerous
death after years of asbestos exposure in the schools in which she taught. The Guardian UK noted
that Elizabeth Belt died aged 68 in September after a three-year battle with mesothelioma, a
form of lung cancer linked to asbestos dust.
Belt understood that her cancer was linked to her years of exposure to asbestos in the bulletin
boards in her classrooms. Asbestos materials were banned in the UK in the 1980s, but the side
effects of breathing in this harmful toxin are the continuing cause of cancerous deaths among
older generations in the UK and Ireland.
With asbestos-containing building materials still being legal in the United States, it is no wonder
many doctors and researchers are predicting the numbers in asbestos-related disease to
significantly increase in the years to come.

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This past November, in Alachua County, Florida, several students from the University of Florida
were displaced from their home when ceiling tiles suffered from water damage, unveiling large
amount of asbestos-containing materials. This incident happened overnight, and within hours, the
residents of the house were exposed to a cancer-causing toxin. According to wuft.org asbestos is
typically found in old linoleum tiles or in insulation in walls and ceilings.
Although several professionals claim that asbestos does not pose any serious threat while the
building material is safely intact, these errors such as water damage are too likely to occur for
schools to continue taking this chance.
Walter Pacheco, a senior content manager for asbestos.com, says that People can develop
medical complications after prolonged exposure to asbestos, and often, symptoms dont show up
until 40 or 50 years after exposure.
Ms. Belt is just one of thousands in the cases of cancerous death caused by exposure to asbestos.
As a known carcinogen, the urge to ban asbestos in the United States will continue until the fight
is won.

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