Effects Of Asbestos Exposure On Children Asbestos is the fibrous mineral that was widely used during World War II until the EPA banned all new uses of it in 1989 because of the deadly illnesses to which exposure was linked. Since then, hundreds of thousands of lawsuits have been filed by workers in industries that used asbestos heavily and other people exposed to asbestos, as well as family members of asbestos exposed victims. In 2003, 100,000 more asbestos related lawsuits were filed and about 600,000 claims are pending.
A Rand study in 2004 found that corporations have paid out $70 billion for asbestos claims over the past 30 years, and about 70 corporations have filed for bankruptcy protection because of the asbestos related lawsuits still pending. Though the number of asbestos lawsuits appears extremely high, the use of asbestos and the number of people exposed to its dangerous fibers has taken many lives and left many with serious illnesses.
Asbestos was widely used in construction materials and is present in schools, homes and other public buildings. The tiny asbestos fibers can easily penetrate tissues and remain in the lungs and other parts of the body if inhaled or swallowed for many years, sometimes forever. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established regulations that require school systems to inspect for damaged asbestos and to eliminate or reduce the exposure to occupants by removing the asbestos or encasing it. Although the EPA banned all new uses of asbestos in 1989, uses established prior to that time were still allowed.
Everyday, children are surrounded by asbestos containing materials in their schools and homes. If contained and the material is not disrupted, the asbestos fibers will not be released into the air and will not threaten the children’s health. Even though the asbestos laws exist to protect children and building occupants while at school, asbestos violations are made all the time. Nearly everyday, news stories report on improper building conditions or improper renovations, but it is difficult to make sure every school follows proper guidelines.
Especially if fixing or renovating parts of a building that may contain materials with asbestos, proper steps should be taken to appropriately sample materials to determine if dangers are present. Only a professional trained in sampling and then treating asbestos should perform the work or significant release of asbestos fibers into the air can allow asbestos exposure to occur.
It is not known if asbestos exposure will result in birth defects or other developmental effects in people. Since children breathe differently and have different lung structures than adults, experts do not know if the inhalation of asbestos fibers is more detrimental to children than adults. If the children are exposed to the asbestos because of contaminated water sources, since children drink more fluids per kilogram of body weight than adults, their health could potentially be even more at risk for asbestos related illnesses.
In the past, family member of workers working with asbestos were exposed to the fibers because they were carried home on clothing and shoes from the asbestos mines or mills. Guidelines were later developed to prevent workers from inhaling and ingesting asbestos fibers, but people still working with asbestos today should take extra precautions not to transport the dangerous fibers home and expose children and other family members and friends to them.
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