While Ohio University students and employees are exposed to asbestos every day, university officials say they take necessary precautions to protect students' health.
Asbestos, which can cause disease and death in some cases, was commonly used in many construction materials, including tiles, shingles and insulation, through the 1980s. As a result, the majority of the buildings on OU's campus contain asbestos. The Department of Environmental Health and Safety and Department of Facilities Management monitor asbestos to prevent it from becoming a health hazard.
Asbestos becomes hazardous when it is released into the air. Inhaling asbestos fibers can cause lung cancer and is the direct cause of mesothelioma, a cancer of the thin lining around the lung, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
In the 1980s, OU realized it needed to monitor asbestos on a daily basis and began an asbestos program, said Chuck Hart, director of the Department of Environmental Health and Safety.
It just progressed over 20 years from no program to a
I'd say high-level program Hart said.
The Department of Environmental Health and Safety's total budget is about $900,000, Hart estimated. Jay North, the director of the Department of Facilities Management, estimated that his department's total budget is $225,000.
These funds cover employee salaries, insurance and operational costs, though neither department had figures for how much of their budget goes to asbestos-related costs. In large renovations, the cost of asbestos removal goes to the department responsible for the renovation.
By the early '90s, OU had surveyed every building on campus and listed them for the types of asbestos they contained. The list can be found on the Environmental Health and Safety Web site (www.ohiou.edu/ehs/eh_asbestos_documents.htm).
Hart said the EPA recommends undamaged asbestos be safely maintained in buildings instead of removed. Products that contain asbestos fall into two categories: friable -materials in a crumbly form that are the most likely to become airborne -and non-friable -materials in a solid form.
Anything that's in a dusty form becomes more of a concern
Hart said.
Hart said students who live in buildings with asbestos in the friable form, such as insulation, should take extra caution not to damage their walls or ceilings. Asbestos in non-friable materials, such as floor tiles, is less of a concern because it is coated in plastic.
Unless you took a grinder to the floor tile
it would be very difficult to make it airborne
North said.
North's department handles the day-to-day maintenance of asbestos on campus. The department makes routine inspections of all buildings at OU.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 24 million Americans have been exposed to asbestos in non-residential buildings and 11.7 million have been exposed in residential buildings.
North said OU goes beyond federal and state regulations to ensure its employees and students are not exposed to asbestos in the air. For example, the state requires all employees who handle asbestos to have inspector certifications, while OU requires its employees to have supervisor certifications, a higher classification that requires more time and money to achieve.
I've never heard of anyone in my career who has a better program
Hart said.
OU uses Transmission Electron Microscopy tests, which cost about $800 for a set of five tests and are more sensitive to asbestos fibers than the required Phase Contrast Microscopy tests, which cost $5 to $15 each.
Our major concern is not money
as much as to make sure our students are safe
Hart said.
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