Asbestos Found in Australian Schools

The discovery of dangerous concentrations of asbestos in several Australian schools has forced officials to examine the level of contamination and the most efficient methods for cleanup and removal of the carcinogenic material. Recent findings of test results in school buildings in the Australian state of Queensland has caused concerns among parents of school-age children of their risks of asbestos exposure.

In the city of Bundaberg, with a population of less than fifty thousand, over fifty area schools have been noted as having at least some level of asbestos contamination. The report from the Schools Asbestos Register stated that, although asbestos was found in fifty-two different school buildings in the area, the form of the materials containing the mineral represented a "stable" setting and would not become a danger to students, teachers or staff unless the asbestos became airborne.

Geoff Wilson, the state's Minister for Education and Training, said that parents should not give in to fear over the findings. He said that the materials within the facilities would only pose a threat if they were broken and the asbestos fibers came loose. He also stated that the information in the Schools Asbestos Register had been available to officials for some time to area school principals, although the Register itself had recently underwent its first publication.

Parents in the area disagreed on the potential danger levels to which their children might be exposed. Kylie Bishop has two children who attend Bundaberg Central State School stated that her belief that the asbestos posed more of a threat if it were to be removed, where loose fibers could expose children to asbestos. Melissa Collins, who also has two children at the same school, said that she would prefer that all of the asbestos be removed from the buildings.

The nearby city of Warwick is also dealing with a major asbestos problem in many of their schools. The Schools Asbestos Register listed more than thirty confirmed or potential cases of asbestos contamination. Barry Ross, a resident of Warwick who also has over thirty years of experience in asbestos remediation and removal, said that many schools in the city and the surrounding Southern Downs region were constructed in the 1960s and early 1970s, when asbestos was commonly used for insulation in walls, pipes and ventilation systems.

According to Mr. Ross, due to the widespread use of the material in buildings erected before 1990, the idea of limiting any asbestos remediation and disposal projects to school holidays would be a time-consuming and potentially expensive option. He also said that, as long as the asbestos is in a setting where it would not be disturbed, the risk of exposure for students and faculty would be minimal

The data in the Schools Asbestos Register shows that the contamination is not limited to these two small towns. The Register shows more than eighty thousand school buildings in the state have either been positively identified as containing asbestos or are assumed to carry asbestos-containing materials. Only one hundred of those sites were determined to be "unsafe", with another eleven thousand considered to have minimal damage that could result in asbestos exposure.

Sources: Bundaberg News Mail, Warwick Daily News

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