Asbestos contamination in United States schools from use of asbestos surfacing materials

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos contamination in United States schools from use of asbestos surfacing materials, by W.J. Nicholson, E.J. Swoszowski, A.N. Rohl, et al (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1979).

The study

• Authors: W.J. Nicholson, E.J. Swoszowski, A.N. Rohl, J.D. Todaro, A. Adams
• Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Published: 1979;330:587-96
• Cited by: 8 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 004377).

Summary of the article

The authors examined the use and condition of asbestos surfacing materials in United States schools and the resulting airborne asbestos levels. In a New Jersey survey, 265 of about 2400 schools had reported nearly three million square feet of what they considered asbestos material in pupil areas. With the state Department of Education, the Mount Sinai Environmental Sciences Laboratory visited 48 schools in 21 districts. Districts were selected randomly, weighted toward those reporting more asbestos use. Sixty-four bulk samples were analysed. Materials were classified as loose friable fibrous spray, moderately dense spray, or plaster or textured paint, and graded for damage. Asbestos was confirmed in 97% of schools that believed their sprayed material contained it, and two-thirds of schools with asbestos surfaces showed visible damage. Four- to eight-hour air samples were taken in ten schools with visible damage in New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York and analysed for chrysotile by electron microscopy. Concentrations ranged from 9 to 1950 ng/m3, averaging 217 ng/m3. Outside air at three schools averaged 14 ng/m3. Ninety-six percent of school samples exceeded 20 ng/m3, whereas 98.5% of 187 ambient samples from 48 US cities were below that level. The authors estimated that two to six million pupils and 100,000 to 300,000 teachers nationally may be in schools with asbestos surfaces. They concluded that visible damage indicates increased air concentrations and that long-term exposure of children above 100 ng/m3 may not be without later risk of asbestos disease.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

The authors surveyed asbestos surfacing materials in New Jersey schools and measured chrysotile in the air of schools with damaged surfaces. They visited 48 schools in 21 districts and took 64 samples of suspected asbestos material, 50 of them from areas such as classrooms, hallways and auditoriums. They sorted the materials into three types: loose, friable sprayed material; denser sprayed material, often with vermiculite or perlite; and plaster or textured paint. Two-thirds of schools with asbestos surfaces showed some visible damage. X-ray analysis confirmed asbestos in 97% of schools that believed their sprayed-on material contained it. Air samples were taken over 4 to 8 hours in ten schools chosen because of visible damage. They held 9 to 1950 nanograms of chrysotile per cubic meter, averaging 217. Outside air at three schools averaged 14. The highest value followed routine sweeping of a hallway. The authors concluded that where sprayed asbestos is visibly damaged, raised air levels would have existed and may persist. Where no damage is visible, levels are likely near background, though later release cannot be excluded. Only chrysotile was measured in air.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Survey of asbestos surfacing materials in schools (visual inspection of damage, bulk samples analyzed by x-ray diffraction) plus electron-microscope measurement of chrysotile in air samples from schools with damaged surfaces, compared with results of earlier ambient-air studies
• Who was studied: 48 New Jersey schools in 21 districts (64 bulk samples, 50 from areas such as classrooms, hallways, auditoriums, cafeterias and locker rooms, the rest from custodial or boiler rooms). Air sampling was done in ten schools: three suburban schools in New Jersey and Massachusetts and seven urban schools in New York and New Jersey. Districts were chosen by random numbers, weighted toward districts reporting greater asbestos use.
• Exposure: Asbestos-containing surfacing materials on school ceilings and walls (friable sprayed material; denser sprayed material often with vermiculite or perlite; plaster or textured paint). Airborne chrysotile was measured. Amphibole asbestos (amosite or crocidolite) was found in only seven of 64 bulk samples.
• Main results:
  • Two-thirds of schools with asbestos surfaces had some visible evidence of damage to the material.
  • Of 22 samples of loose, friable fibrous asbestos spray material, 4 (18%) were intact and undamaged, 10 (45%) had minimum damage, 5 (23%) had localized damage and 3 (14%) had severe damage or deterioration.
  • X-ray analysis confirmed asbestos in 97% of the schools that believed their sprayed-on material contained asbestos. In only two schools was the reported asbestos not confirmed.
  • In one school whose architect had said the sprayed-on plaster was asbestos free, the material contained about 2% chrysotile.
  • In 4- to 8-hour air samples from ten schools with damaged asbestos surfaces, chrysotile ranged from 9 to 1950 nanograms per cubic meter, with an average of 217.
  • Outside air samples at three of the schools ranged from 3 to 30 nanograms per cubic meter, with an average of 14.
  • The highest school value (1950 nanograms per cubic meter) was in a sample taken after routine sweeping of a hallway in a school with water damage to the asbestos surface.
  • In an earlier study of 187 samples from 48 United States cities, 98.5% were below 20 nanograms per cubic meter. 96% of the school samples exceeded that value.
  • The school average (217 nanograms per cubic meter) was more than 10 times the average of earlier daytime New York City outdoor air samples (17 nanograms per cubic meter).
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that where visible damage to or erosion of asbestos-containing sprayed material is evident, increased asbestos air concentrations would have existed at the time of damage and may still persist. They also concluded that, because such damage is likely to recur, concentrations above background (50 nanograms per cubic meter) may be expected. Where no damage is visible, levels are likely little different from background, but later damage and fiber release cannot be excluded.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The survey gave no information on schools that may have wrongly believed they had no asbestos surfacing material and so did not report it.
  • Many schools did not report asbestos in areas not used by pupils, such as boiler rooms.
  • Only chrysotile was measured in air. Amphibole asbestos, if present, would add to the measured concentrations.
  • Fewer air data were available for damaged cementitious sprayed material.
  • No past exposure data exist, so direct dose-response data on asbestos health effects in environmental circumstances are lacking.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Surfacing Material, Friable, Chrysotile.

Related studies

• State responsibility for the control of asbestos in the schools — L.P. Stavisky (1982)
• Airborne Asbestos Exposures from Warm Air Heating Systems in Schools — G.J. Burdett, K. Dewberry, et al. (2016)
• Airborne asbestos in Colorado public schools — D.A. Chadwick, R.M. Buchan, et al. (1985)
• Asbestos in school buildings: results of a nation-wide survey — K.Z. Silver (1979)
• Asbestos abatement in schools: observations and experiences — R.N. Sawyer, E.J. Swoszowski (1979)
• Mesothelioma incidence in 50 states and the District of Columbia, United States, 2003-2008 — S.J. Henley, T.C. Larson, et al. (2013)

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