Asbestos News

An independent inspector recently recommended that an Australian kindergarten could re-open after being temporarily shut down due to a discovery of loose asbestos materials.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Dunsford Street kindergarten in Lancefield, Australia, was closed down after local officials called attention to the potentially loose asbestos materials.

The news source reports that the loose asbestos has now been cleared by a contractor, and Mayor Henry McLaughlin told the news source that children are at no risk of exposure because the remaining materials have been properly sealed.

"Before the repair works were carried out it's important to say that they had independent testing equipment to monitor the air quality for particles in the area and there was no particles detected both before, during and after the repair works were... completed, so it's perfectly safe," the mayor explained.

Properly handling loose asbestos and removing the carcinogenic material from schools needs to be a priority, as the inhalation of the dangerous mineral fibers can cause lung cancer, asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer.