
Thousands of school employees, students, and instructors in the United Kingdom have died from lung cancer in the last 40 years, all because of asbestos, a construction material used for fire retardancy and heat insulation.
During the postwar construction boom, asbestos was extensively used to build numerous homes and schools in the UK. According to a 2019 assessment by the Department of Education (DfE), approximately 81% of UK schools had asbestos.
Despite its practical use, asbestos is known to cause serious health problems in humans, particularly when exposed for long periods. Inhalation of asbestos fibers causes lung injury, inflammation, scarring, and, in a large number of instances, malignant mesothelioma, a deadly tumor for which there is now no cure.
With a rate more than double that of the US, Germany, or France, Britain has the world’s highest mesothelioma incidence. The most prevalent kind of asbestos in UK schools is sometimes referred to as “white” asbestos. Unfortunately, the likelihood of asbestos-containing building components being destroyed due to roof collapse or rehabilitation work is increasing as the number of schools experiencing degradation rises. This releases the deadly fibers. It is unknown which schools have asbestos and in what areas because no registry keeps track of this information.
There was a time when people believed that only construction workers, miners, and sailors might get mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. But that’s not the case now. In schools, hospitals, and social housing, the supposed safety of ‘undisturbed’ asbestos has claimed thousands of lives and will continue to do so in the absence of intervention.
Because asbestos is extremely friable, it just takes a small amount of disturbance to unleash deadly, tiny fibers into the air.
In the 1960s and 1970s, asbestos-containing buildings were constructed with a lifespan of around 40 years; nowadays, these structures require almost continuous maintenance. Contractors will undoubtedly disturb asbestos in the structure as they operate.
Because of accountability, there is a gap between HSE experts’ recommendations and their official policy. The truth is that the knowledge and tools to end the threat exist, but the government has never been willing to examine asbestos in the long run.
Asbestos should be phased out of the environment systematically, beginning with the most dangerous structures, using a national database and air monitoring systems.