Thousands of students and teachers in Philadelphia are brought into the risk of cancer in classrooms, has brought an investigation.
Asbestos is often used as insulation in schools, but can release small carcinogenic fibers if they are disturbed with schools that are told to inspect it every six months.
But a five-year-old secret federal probe has discovered that the school district of Philadelphia-de Eighth largest in the US routine is not to carry out the inspections at some of his schools.
And in many cases, school officials were reportedly aware of exposed asbestos in classrooms, corridors and gymnasiums for years, but did not take any action.
Researchers also said that repair tasks were insufficient when they were completed, in some cases with the help of duct tape to try to cover the upholstery.
Federal researchers did not test asbestos levels in classrooms, but 2020 tests performed by the Teachers Union found ‘alarming’ level at one of the schools.
The failures were revealed when federal prosecutors submitted criminal prosecution against the school system on Thursday – the first time that authorities have taken action about asbestos failure in schools.
At least two teachers fear that asbestos caused their cancer, including experienced educator Lea Diruso-Die used to hung children work on asbestos-covered pipes.
And at least three of the 317 schools of the district are forced to close asbestos pollution in their buildings, to force students in other schools or in online lessons.
Lea Darrusso, depicted above, was diagnosed with Mesothelioma After having worked in two of the affected schools. She said she used to hang students, worked on the pipes with asbestos-striking
Asbestos was used in the early 1940s to the 1980s as insulation for roofs and pipes because of the heat and fire-resistant properties.
It is harmless when it is left in place, but scientists have discovered that when the fibers are exposed and inhaled by people, they increase the risk of cancer -like mutations in cells.
Almost all cases of mesothelioma, a very aggressive cancer in the lining of organs that survive only one in ten patients, are linked to exposure to asbestos. The cancer can take decades to develop.
Asbestos is also linked to other cancers, including lung cancer, larynx cancer – a cancer in the neck and ovarian cancer.
In Philadelphia, approximately 300 of the 339 buildings of the asbestos school district contain researchers, where the schools serve 200,000 students and 12,000 employees each year.
The United States law firm for the eastern district of Pennsylvania said that there is a ‘long -term and widespread problem’ of asbestos pollution in the schools of Philadelphia that ‘threatened’ students and staff ‘threatened’.
It detected 31 school buildings with asbestos problems between April 2015 and November 2023, with some with several areas of asbestos damage.
Seven schools were emphasized due to large asbestos problems: William Meredith Elementary; Building 21 alternative high school; Southwark Elementary; S. Weir Mitchell Elementary; Charles W. Henry Elementary; Universal Vare Charter School; And Frankford High School.
Considered asbestos shown on a pipe behind a basketball network in a school gymnasium in Philadelphia
The image above shows exposed asbestos at one of the 317 schools of the system. This image was taken in a classroom
And the above shows a child who sucks his thumb while hugging an asbestos -covered pipe
One of these, Frankford High School, has now been closed for at least two years, while the staff is preparing to work to remove the asbestos.
In a deal with the district, the school agreed to do work to solve the problems to prevent persecution.
The school district blamed the financing of the problems, but says it now has a team of 39 employees at his environmental office to perform the inspections.
According to the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), public buildings such as schools are obliged to carry out the six -month basic inspections for damaged asbestos – and repair everything they find.
They are also obliged to perform in -depth inspections of their buildings every three years to check for asbestos.
These inspections often take a few days to complete and require that students and employees are not present.
Lea Darrusso, who spoke in 2019, said that both themselves and colleagues were not at all aware that their building contained asbestos.
“If you enter a room on a Monday morning and you start to set up, and you see dust over your desk, or dust on the floor … you just create it, you clean it up and you continue,” she said.
Juan Nanmun was diagnosed with papillary carcinoma in 2022 after worked as a physical education teacher at Frankford High School, which is closed on exposure to asbestos. He has accused the school of causing his cancer
Asbestos problems in the Philadelphia schools were first unveiled in 2018, after an article in Philadelphia inquirer had warned of the widespread risk of exposure at many of the schools of the district.
This led the school system to start a renovation project of $ 37 million, which quickly revealed damaged asbestos at various of the schools.
School closures and the relocation of thousands of students followed quickly, while work was done to extract asbestos from the buildings.
Federal Public Prosecutors started their research in 2020 in the midst of concern and demanded the school system the inspection records of the asbestos.
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