Asbestos in school buildings: results of a nation-wide survey

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos in school buildings: results of a nation-wide survey, by K.Z. Silver (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1979).

The study

• Author: K.Z. Silver
• Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Published: 1979;330:777-86
• Cited by: 1 article, 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. 004383).

In plain English

This article reported a mail survey of state governments, not a study of health outcomes. In February 1977, the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (Mass PIRG) surveyed the governors of all 50 U.S. states. It asked what air sampling, evaluations or investigations each state had done on sprayed-on asbestos ceiling material in school buildings. Twenty-four states responded. The author rated seven of them as "minimally aware" of the hazard and placed four in a middle category. The remaining thirteen reported some direct action. About 250 New Jersey schools were found to have sprayed-on ceiling materials containing asbestos, 45 of them visibly flaking. Connecticut officials identified 26 schools as potential asbestos hazards. In Massachusetts, 167 of 809 public schools built or renovated between 1946 and 1972 were found to have sprayed-on ceiling material, and 86 were positively identified as containing asbestos. That state's investigation was not yet complete. Four states said they would apply the workplace asbestos standard in schools, and three questioned doing so. Six states complained of insufficient staff and funds, and few states had done any public education. The author made eight recommendations for state and federal action.

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: mail survey of state governments, with a descriptive policy review and recommendations
• Who was studied: Responses from 24 of the 50 U.S. state governments to a survey sent in February 1977; information was unavailable from 26 states
• Exposure: Sprayed-on asbestos-containing ceiling material (fireproofing, insulating and acoustical material) in school buildings; no fiber types are named
• Main results:
  • Of the 24 responding states, seven (Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) were rated minimally aware of the potential hazards of asbestos in school buildings
  • Alaska, Indiana, Kansas and Virginia were placed in a middle category
  • The remaining thirteen responding states reported some direct action to evaluate or correct asbestos in school buildings
  • New Jersey: approximately 250 schools were found to have sprayed-on ceiling materials containing asbestos, 45 of which were visibly flaking
  • Connecticut health officials identified 26 schools as potential asbestos hazards
  • Massachusetts: of 809 public schools built or renovated between 1946 and 1972, 167 were found to contain sprayed-on ceiling material, another 629 had not yet been examined, and 86 schools were positively identified as containing asbestos
  • Georgia, Maryland, New Mexico and Oregon indicated that the workplace (OSHA) asbestos standard would also be enforced in school buildings, while three other states (Oklahoma, New Jersey and Connecticut) questioned applying an industrial standard to school children
  • Massachusetts set an action level of 0.04 fibers per cubic centimeter for schools with asbestos-containing ceilings, two times the average background level of total fibrous particulate measured in seven schools without asbestos-containing ceilings
  • Six states (Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin) specifically complained of insufficient manpower and funds for asbestos evaluation programs
  • Few responding states had undertaken any public education; New Jersey and California were the exceptions noted
• The authors' conclusion: The author, on behalf of Mass PIRG, made eight recommendations for state and federal action. These included guidance documents for school officials, methods for locating and testing ceiling material, notifying maintenance workers, examining producers' shipping records, Congressional hearings, and exploring federal assistance through a wider survey
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The Massachusetts Special Commission's investigation was not yet complete, and many Massachusetts schools built or renovated in the period had not yet been examined

Related studies

• A radiographic survey of public school building maintenance and custodial employees — H.A. Anderson, L.P. Hanrahan, et al. (1992)
• Airborne concentrations of asbestos in 71 school buildings — M. Corn, K. Crump, et al. (1991)
• Asbestos abatement in schools: observations and experiences — R.N. Sawyer, E.J. Swoszowski (1979)
• Asbestos in New York City public school buildings--public policy: is there a scientific basis? — R. Wilson, A.M. Langer, et al. (1994)
• Airborne asbestos levels in school buildings in Italy — A. Campopiano, S. Casciardi, et al. (2004)
• Asbestos-related disease in custodial and building maintenance workers from a large municipal school district — J.R. Balmes, A. Daponte, et al. (1991)

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