Indiana University students responsible for keeping asbestos in dorms intact

October 26, 2005

Four Indiana University dorms will be renovated in the next 10 years because of asbestos. According to Pat Connor, director of Residential Programs and Services, students are given information upon moving in about asbestos included in their booklets and are responsible for keeping asbestos in their own dorms intact and reporting any problems they notice.

Connor said the four affected dorms would begin to receive biannual asbestos inspections and repairs, which were caused by water leaks and students damaging the ceilings themselves. While Connor said the asbestos is harmless unless damaged, most students were unaware that asbestos was even in the buildings.

Commonly used as an insulation material in buildings built before 1980, asbestos has since been identified as a human carcinogen. Inhaling asbestos fibers can result in dangerous health effects, and while Mike Jenson, the associate director for the Office of Environmental, Health and Safety Management, said the asbestos exposure to students is unlikely to cause serious health problems, Mark Farber, acting director of the IU Occupational Lung Center disagrees.

Farber said since no minimum safety exposure level to asbestos is known, it is impossible to know what a person's susceptibility to asbestos related health effects are. Potential risk factors exist, so people should be concerned about their exposure, Farber said.

After Tomas Beauchamp, a former employee of the Office of Environmental, Health and Safety Management, inspected about 100 dorms in each of the affected buildings he said, "I know that I wouldn't want to be exposed to that." Beauchamp contacted lawyers, saying a warning alone is not enough to pass off liability.

The University has been aware of the presence and condition of asbestos in the affected dorms since 1987 when they teamed up with Hall-Kimbrell to develop a report documenting all existing asbestos on campus. Students are given a guide to residence living when moving into the dorms and are told they are responsible for the information.

.For more information on asbestos related illnesses and death, please contact us to confer with an attorney.

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