Mesothelioma news
17/01/2008

Asbestos cause for concern in US schools

NEW YORK, USA – The Mesothelioma and Asbestos Awareness Center (MAAC), one of the USA's most influential asbestos information resource bodies, has warned of the growing risk of students attending the nation's schools being exposed to deadly asbestos particles.

They say that the natural degradation of many of America's ageing school buildings means that previously undisturbed asbestos fibres are now posing a hazard. This warning comes after a Indiana high school was recently found to have violated the federal asbestos code, placing students at risk of the kind of exposure that could lead them to developing diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis in later life.

However, this is not an isolated incident. Over the past decade, many New York City schools have been forced to evacuate students as a result of investigators finding them to pose a critical asbestos risk. A 1993 inspection of NYC schools found nearly all of them to contain exposed asbestos.

Despite a nationwide ban on asbestos use coming into effect in the 1970s, it is believed that nearly 80% of all pre 1980 buildings in the USA pose some level of asbestos risk. Quick action has been urged in order to avoid epidemics of asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis hitting future generations.