Asbestos News

An independent environmental consultant said recently that asbestos discovered in Canada's Shannon Park Elementary School is undisturbed and is not a health hazard for students and staff members, the Chronicle Herald reports.

According to the news provider, a parent complained a few weeks ago that mold and asbestos in her daughter's school were making the girl sick.

"We're very concerned that someone would believe that the building is making them sick so that’s our number one priority - to make sure that our students are healthy when they come to school - so we're going to investigate to see if there's any way this building is contributing to this child's illness," said Doug Hadley of the Halifax Regional School Board.

The news source reports that the girl's classroom experienced a leak in January, which caused tiles to fall from the ceiling. Asbestos was reportedly found in one corner of the classroom, but Hadley said that the carcinogenic material had not been disturbed and did not pose a health risk.

It is important that asbestos is handled and removed properly if it becomes disturbed as the inhalation of the dangerous mineral fibers can cause asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer.