Asbestos News
High levels of asbestos found in Korean playgrounds
Education officials in Korea recently announced that elevated levels of asbestos were found on playgrounds at eight schools."Investigation has been conducted by two public science agencies. The result showed the playgrounds contain asbestos in higher amount than the standard of 0.1 percent," said an official in a meeting that included officials from the Education Ministry, the Culture Ministry and the providers of school playground soil.
According to the Korea Herald, the schools' playgrounds have been covered with tents to prevent the asbestos fibers from becoming airborne.
High levels of asbestos are a serious concern anywhere but especially in places where children play. Asbestos diseases such as malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer can take decades to manifest symptoms, so children exposed to it now may not know they have a deadly cancer until they are in their 20s or 30s.
Asbestos has been in the Korean news frequently as of late. It was recently revealed that a number of professional baseball stadiums in the Asian country contain asbestos in the dirt. However, the decision was made to wait until after the season to completely switch out the soil.
10/13/11
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