School is the last place parents think their children will be at risk for unhealthy environmental risks, but recently attention has been given to possible asbestos exposure in schools.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggested in 1984 that “there are asbestos containing materials in most of the nation’s approximately 107,000 primary and secondary schools and 733,000 public and commercial buildings.”

Nearly 35,000 schools, according to the same report, are thought to have friable asbestos containing materials.

Friable refers to asbestos materials in which the fibers are easily released into the air and environment.

This puts a staggering 15 million students and 1.4 million school employees at risk for asbestos exposure in schools.

Last year, United States Senators Barbara Boxer and Ed Markey headed up an investigation about the safety of American schools regarding asbestos exposure.

The Senators wanted to check how schools and districts were protecting students and adults from asbestos exposure in schools.

They revealed that asbestos exposure in schools is a widespread issue.

Their report, Failing the Grade: Asbestos in America’s Schools, found a couple big problems:

• Over 65% of state education agencies reported having schools that contained asbestos contaminated materials. Most of these materials have been left as is.
• School districts have not addressed asbestos exposure in school and have not, for the most part, investigated or monitored asbestos materials.

Recently, the Huntington Beach School District in Southern California was forced to shut down 3 schools after finding asbestos in classrooms.

Hundreds of students were displaced for extended amounts of time and the district spent millions of dollars to fix the problem.

The total expenditures to the school district was over $18 million dollars.

This fall, Cedar Grove, New Jersey students have been displaced from their school district because a summer renovation project found elevated asbestos levels in some classrooms.

Asbestos Exposure in Schools and the Law

In 1986 the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) obligated educational institutions to regularly inspect school buildings for asbestos and enact abatement if and when it is needed.

The law also requires schools to inspect their buildings for asbestos-containing building material, prepare management plans and take action to prevent or reduce asbestos hazards.

Parents of students have the right to request reports from schools about how they are adhering to the law including inspection records and management plans.

Boxer and Markey’s report stated that out of 50 state governors to whom they sent letters asking about AHERA’s enforcement, they only received replies from 20.

The report goes on to say that the EPA as well as many states are not auditing or enforcing AHERA. States say, however, that they allow individual school districts to take care of this.

U.S Senators and parents alike are urging the government to pay more attention to the widespread problem of asbestos exposure in schools.