Parents Concerned Over Elementary School Asbestos Exposure
May 23, 2006
There are rising health concerns at a Boston Elementary school after a fifth-grade teacher was diagnosed with asbestos exposure.
Worried parents fear the toxic material will make their children sick, and wonder how safe the air inside the school is.
Our fear now is that its an unhealthy, unsafe school for our children to go on a daily basis, five days a week, six hours a day, said parent Paul Arnold.
In 2003, the school was inspected and asbestos damage was found around some piping. The problem was fixed, and a follow up check of the school found acceptable levels of the poisonous material.
According to city officials, the school is safe. Air quality tests in the school have proven negative. In the past, most recently in 2003, and in the last several months, weve completed air quality tests for mold and other airborne bacteria and those tests also proved negative, said Saugus town manager Andrew Bisignani.
However, the elementary school superintendent has ordered a new round of testing after the long-time teachers diagnosis. Currently, authorities are testing cracks in floor tiles, which were laid down in the school eight years ago to cover asbestos.
Teachers at Saugus Elementary School as well as teachers working in other old buildings in town also fear illness. They said that students as well as faculty have been reporting signs and symptoms that may be associated with asbestos exposure.
Sinus infections, pneumonia, liver. All kinds of issues coming up with the teachers, children coming in whose parents say theyre getting sick when theyre in the building every day, said Teacher Diane Walsh.
Long-term asbestos exposure has been linked to asbestosis and mesothelioma, lung diseases that cause serious injury and death. symptoms of asbestos can take anywhere from 10 to 40 years to develop.
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