May 28th, 2008

A university in Colorado replied this week to student unions pushing for asbestos removal on campus. The answer was that the removal of the asbestos is too expensive, and the material is not posing a risk at this time.

A student union on a Colorado college campus has raised concerns about asbestos in the buildings on campus. Campus officials have said that removing the asbestos from the buildings would be too expensive, and that at this time the asbestos does not pose any danger to people in the buildings. Students have pointed out that asbestos can be found in the floor tiles, which could possibly expose people to airborne asbestos although the tiles do not pose an immediate health risk.

Asbestos is a normally safe material that is found in flooring, insulation and other materials in older buildings. The asbestos does not become a concern until it begins breaking down, when particles can be released into the air. Breathing in airborne asbestos particles has been linked with respiratory diseases like mesothelioma and asbestosis. A type of aggressive lung cancer, mesothelioma can take decades to manifest and is often deadly when detected. School officials said that until the flooring begins to break down, no measures would be taken to remove the asbestos.