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news
Campus
begins asbestos removal
By Brian Brannon
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
For Cal State Long
Beach’s physical planning and facilities management department,
summer is the best time to remove asbestos from buildings
due to the lower number of students on campus.
“We’re trying to use that window to get things done before
school starts again,” said Sue Brown, director of physical
planning.
The work usually occurs on weekends, she said, and is finished
before summer classes resume Monday.
Use of asbestos as an insulator was widespread when many campus
buildings were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s, Brown said.
Thus, her department currently has 60 to 70 projects, which
involve the material to some extent, she said.
Recent projects include remodeling of Brotman Hall and work
in the basement of the Social Science/Public Affairs building.
Floor and ceiling tiles are the most common places the material
is found on campus, she said.
Dr. Robert Friis, chair of the CSULB health and science department,
said the most common way asbestos particles enter the body
is through inhalation.
“The fibers can be disseminated into the air and then people
who breathe the fibers can be at risk of different diseases,”
he said.
Diseases that have been linked to asbestos include asbestosis
(a scarring of the lung tissue), lung cancer and mesothelioma.
“Asbestos-related mesothelioma is an unusual form of cancer
of the abdominal lining and this seems to be related very
specifically to asbestos exposure,” he said.
The accumulation of asbestos fibers in the lungs can have
a synergistic effect when combined with other types of exposure,
Friis said.
“People who smoke and are exposed to asbestos have a higher
risk of developing lung cancer than just people who are smokers
or who are exposed to asbestos,” he said.
Products containing asbestos are classified as either cementitious
or dry-applied materials, CSULB hazardous material specialist
George Alfaro said.
Cementitious materials, such as floor and ceiling tiles, are
less likely to release airborne particles because the fibers
are bonded with non-asbestos materials, he said.
“In a floor tile, it’s already sealed within that floor tile,
so walking on it isn’t going to disturb it,” Brown said. “If
you pop it up and break it in half, then that’s a different
situation.”
The best way to deal with materials containing asbestos is
often to just leave them alone, she said.
“The governing rule that we abide by is that if you don’t
disturb it, it’s fine in place,” she said.
When a building is slated for extensive construction that
might release particles into the air, the planning department
includes removal of the materials in the contract bid.
“If the nature of the work is going to disturb that tile,
be it in the floor or in the ceiling, then we bring in a special
asbestos abatement contractor to get that out before any work
begins,” she said.
Contractors working on asbestos abatement are required to
have special licenses to conduct the work, Brown said.
“We also have a third-party monitor that ensures that the
work is not only done in conformance with the law, but that
the area is clean and clear before we bring people into the
building,” she said.
Friis said students should not be concerned about asbestos
removal projects occurring on campus.
“The vendors are specialists, I’m sure that the health of
the students and employees is well protected,” he said.
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