National Healthy School Day: Are our school buildings “healthy”?
National Healthy School Day was created as a way to call attention to the many health issues facing America’s student population. While much attention is understandably given to the people and activities going on in our schools, we should not forget to examine the health of the buildings themselves. When we drop our kids off at school in the morning, or walk the halls on our way to a school concert, play or game, how often do we notice the building? We notice the colorful signs and posters that alert us to the activities going on, but we seldom take notice of the building itself, and with good reason. Schools are typically drab, uninteresting buildings, brought to life by their inhabitants and purpose, rather than their architecture or design. But what if the building itself posed a health risk? What if the school wasn’t “healthy”?
Asbestos was used in thousands of building products through the 1970s, and in a significant amount of products in the 1980s. Those asbestos products were used in the construction of offices, stores, homes—and schools. Any school built in the 1970s and earlier was likely constructed with at least some products that contained asbestos. Asbestos was used in joint compound, floor and ceiling tiles, insulation, gaskets, packing, fireproofing spray and other building products. Shepard Law has represented construction workers who were exposed to asbestos during construction of schools, as well as custodians who were exposed while buffing vinyl asbestos flooring and maintaining equipment in boiler rooms. But do those potential exposures still exist in our schools today? The answer might surprise you.
In 1986, Congress passed the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA). Among other things, AHERA required schools to investigate their buildings for the presence of asbestos, document its location, and remediate any asbestos that had the potential to become airborne or respirable. Largely due to AHERA, asbestos materials have been abated from most school buildings. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there anymore. Abatement can take many forms, from complete removal to encapsulation. Encapsulation involves sealing the asbestos in place, so that it cannot be disturbed and made airborne, preventing the dangerous fibers from being inhaled by anyone in the building. Although encapsulation solves the immediate problem, the root of the problem is still lurking behind the walls, above the ceiling grid, or under foot.
The so-called “next wave of asbestos exposure” is this asbestos that lurks in buildings that were constructed during the heyday of asbestos products use. Experts predict that the mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer cases we see in the next 20-40 years will be caused largely by asbestos that is currently hidden in office towers, factories, industrial buildings, homes and schools. When those buildings are renovated or torn down, there is the risk of asbestos exposures unless care is taken to properly remove and dispose of the asbestos.
Despite the efforts to identify and abate asbestos in schools over the past thirty years, there are still instances where asbestos is unexpectedly encountered and released. For example, in 2013, a group of students renovating a room at The Buckeye Education School, as part of a school project, unwittingly tore up asbestos-containing flooring. See the article here.
Luckily, stories like this one are the exception, not the rule. Most schools are perfectly safe for everyday use by teachers, students and administrators. But until a school is completely stripped of all asbestos materials, careful attention must be paid to renovation and repair work. Hopefully this will ensure that the next wave of mesothelioma does not include our most precious resource—our children.
What You May Not Know About Lung Cancer
November is lung cancer awareness month and with good reason. According to the American Lung Association, “Lung cancer causes more deaths than colorectal, breast and prostate cancers combined. An estimated 158,040 Americans are expected to die from lung cancer in 2015, accounting for approximately 27 percent of all cancer deaths.”
What causes lung cancer?
Most people know that smoking is a major cause of lung cancer and if you’re a man the risk is even higher. In a recent study conducted by the US Surgeon General, it was reported that that male smokers are twenty-five times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smoking males. Many of us also know that occupational exposure to asbestos is another risk factor that increases your chances of developing lung cancer. However, the general public is not as aware of the synergetic effect that occurs when smoking and exposure to asbestos are combined. For these individual, the risk of developing lung cancer doesn’t just increase – it multiples.
Combining smoking and asbestos exposure multiplies risk
For reasons that are not yet completely understood, asbestos poses a greater risk for lung cancer in individuals who smoke cigarettes. It is generally accepted that smoking and asbestos exposure have a synergistic effect. This means that smoking and asbestos combines in the lungs in a way that multiplies the risks that either would have on its own, although studies differ as to the extent of the multiplying effect.
This multiplying of risks is of great significance because the vast majority of individuals who worked with or around asbestos-containing products were also smokers. Consider the occupations that are most often associated with asbestos exposure:
- Shipyard workers
- Navy veterans, particular those who worked in the engine and boiler rooms
- Insulators, pipecoverers and laggers
- Pipefitters and plumbers
- Boilermakers
- Machinists and millwrights
- Plasterers and drywall installers
- Auto mechanics
Men who worked in these occupations were extremely likely to have smoked. In over twenty years of representing victims of asbestos exposure, I can count on two hands the number of lung cancer cases where my client was a lifelong non-smoker and we can understand why. These trades occurred in environments where smoking was not only allowed, it was socially encouraged. Most construction crews were given smoking breaks during the day.
“I have had clients tell me that they weren’t really interested in smoking, but they started doing it because they didn’t want to be left out of the smoking breaks that their buddies were allowed to take.”
—Mike Shepard
US military veterans were practically told to smoke – until 1975 cigarettes were included in K-rations and C-rations. A machinist mate in the United States Navy worked in an engine room that was loaded with asbestos insulation, gaskets and packing, while regularly smoking cigarettes. It is no wonder that so many of my clients are former Navy firemen, machinist mates, electricians and the like. They spent their working hours in a windowless compartment surrounded by boilers, turbines, pumps, valves and a multitude of other equipment that incorporated asbestos insulation, gaskets and packing. That equipment was in constant need of service and repair, creating daily exposures to asbestos. All the while, these veterans were smoking cigarettes as a way to deal with the stress and monotony of life on board a Navy ship. Now, decades later, those two carcinogens have combined in their lungs to cause cancer.
What can you do?
Throughout this month please join us – advocates, survivors, caregivers and family members – as we show support for the lung cancer community and recognize the toll that both smoking and exposure to asbestos has taken, and continues to take, on the men and women who built this country and the service men and women who have protected it.
We want you to know your rights. If you or a loved one suffers from Mesothelioma or lung cancer, call for information on how we can help. Time is of the essence, so call us today (617) 451-9191.