Asbestos a problem in many older buildings

By Bob Driehaus, Kentucky Post

When workers disturbed asbestos in the ceiling of Latonia Elementary School recently, they stirred up a problem that lingers in thousands of other buildings.

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that 733,000 public and commercial buildings nationwide contain asbestos. That excludes homes," said Parker Moore, manager of the state Division for Air Quality's Special Programs branch.

It's up to property owners to keep asbestos fibers - a potential carcinogen - contained, he said, or to clean them up when there is any chance the fibers have escaped.

"If you have it in your house, keep it protected. Keep it well maintained," he said.

Q: What are the main impediments to removing asbestos from buildings?
A: Safety and cost. You have to be careful when you remove it. You have to remove it correctly. Typically, you'll want to hire a certified asbestos contractor, and because of their expertise and because of the equipment that they use to contain asbestos fibers and keep them from being released into the outside air where we breathe, those things cost money.

Q: It can really balloon the cost of tearing down a building or rehabbing it, can't it?
A: Yes, it can. I don't have any dollar figures, but I can tell you removing asbestos of the kind that they had over at the school where they had to build a containment area and scrape it off, that typically comes at $20 a square foot.

Q: In what years was asbestos used?
A: The real heyday of asbestos use was from the 1940s into the 1970s. Any building built during that time or remodeled during that time is probably the best candidate.

Q: Are public buildings ahead of private buildings at getting asbestos removed at this point?
A: I don't know. I would say that there are certain types of buildings that are ahead of other types of buildings in getting asbestos removed. Industries will tend to keep the asbestos because it's an excellent product for insulating and fire protection.

In buildings where the public comes, people want to see it out of there. And schools, of course.

Q: In what kinds of buildings are people most at risk?
A: Older, poorly maintained ones, and particularly those buildings where there is nobody around who knows about asbestos.

That is the good thing about asbestos in the school's regulation, that there is a specific requirement that schools have someone who has a little bit of training in asbestos working for them. A school has to designate a person as their asbestos person, and that person gets a half day of training just to acquaint them with asbestos hazards.

Q: Is that level of training adequate?
A: It's adequate for that purpose. For example, they would know that if the electricians come in to do some work that they would alert the electricians to any asbestos hazards. It would be in the forefront of their minds.

Q: Are there health hazards associated with short-term exposure?
A: Well, possibly. What the scientist do know is the longer the exposure, the greater the hazards. It's kind of like cigarette smoking in a way. If you smoke one cigarette, your chances of getting lung cancer from it are next to none. It's similar with asbestos. The EPA has said there is no known safe level of asbestos.

Q: Should a parent whose child was exposed to this for a week, is that some thing they need to worry about?
A: My understanding is that the total amount of asbestos disturbed at Latonia Elementary probably would fit into a couple of pop cans. And it was disturbed over time. It was not as though someone removed that amount all at once and emptied that amount into one child's face. All the fibers that were re leased in that couple of Coke cans first of all I would say settled out.

However, I would say that anyone who was in an area where asbestos fibers were found probably breathed a few asbestos fibers. By a few, I mean a few more than they would at a playground outside.

I'd say it was still a pretty minute amount, but it's more than you would find naturally occurring. It's hard to answer that question because there are people who have had much larger exposures and nothing happened to them.

It's also a hard issue for scientist to study because asbestos diseases will sometimes take 20, 30 or even 40 years to manifest themselves. We just don't know for sure, and we don't know what those levels were doing that week or so that the cablers were in there cabling, and the children were in there going about their school business.

It looks probably not as serious as a parent would tend to think it is.

But there are tests that can be given. These are chest X-rays by what they call certified B readers.

Q: How can renters of older apartment buildings find out if the buildings are free of contamination?
A: They can ask their landlord. An other thing that they could do is get some education themselves. We do some of that with pamphlets along with radon and lead paint education. We're not the experts on that, but we do have some useful information.

Q: Are there some basic warning signs that people can look for?
A: With asbestos, any kind of insulating material that is not obviously fiber glass would be a candidate - pipe insulation, boiler insulation, duct insulation, even duct tape. You look at heating sources, and you also look at things that need to be insulated like water pipes. Ceiling tiles and even surface materials, particularly the cottage-cheesy looking stuff. Sometimes drywall joint compound contains asbestos.

Q: Is this a growing problem where asbestos is being upset by wiring older buildings for computers?
A: I guess ever since the cabling started happening some people were aware of it and some were not. I don't see it as a growing problem, but occasionally it will happen.

Q: Who is responsible for cleanup when asbestos is found?
A: The responsibility lies with the owner.

Q: Where can people go to get samples analyzed.
A: All around the state. There are a lot of environmental laboratories in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati.

Q: Is there a point in the foreseeable future where we will have contained all our asbestos problems?
A: Probably in a generation or two down the road. Very few asbestos materials are being used as replacement materials.

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