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By Nicole Nielsen
Arizona Daily Wildcat
August 21, 1996
About 62 percent of the buildings on the University of Arizona campus contain asbestos, but UA safety specialists say faculty and students have nothing to worry about because, if left alone, it cannot harm you.Exposure to the fiber-like material can lead to various forms of cancer such as mesothelioma and asbestosis, a hardening of lung tissue. The afflictions may not appear for several years.
Colleen Morgan, a health and safety specialist with the UA Department of Risk Management and Safety, said asbestos materials are not hazardous if left in place.
Asbestos must be removed only if materials containing the material are damaged or if renovation is needed, she said.
Robert Bechtel, a UA professor of environmental psychology, agreed.
"In a lot of cases, you can leave asbestos in place, and it is fine," Bechtel said.
Asbestos was used for fire prevention in 31,000 of the 733,000 public buildings in the United States, Bechtel said.
"Virtually any building built before 1975 will have asbestos in it," he said.
At the UA, Morgan said, the Harvill Building was the last to be built with some materials containing asbestos.
Now, safer materials such as clay are being used for fire prevention.
In the last four years, the UA has re-roofed almost the entire Memorial Student Union, partly because of asbestos hazards, Morgan said.
In previous years, leaks in roofs of the Student Union had the potential of ruining asbestos-containing tiles in the Union, thereby releasing particles, Morgan said.
She said it is when people come in contact with asbestos particles that a dangerous situation exists.
Fortunately, leaks never actually damaged any asbestos containing materials, Morgan said.
Asbestos removal is a very costly procedure because specialists have to be called in and it often delays repair and renovation, she said.
Morgan said the UA uses specifically-licensed state contractors to remove asbestos, but the UA Department of Facilities Management has a trained team for small jobs.
Paul Kramkowski of Southwest Hazard Control, an asbestos removal company in Tucson, estimates the removal of floor or ceiling tile at $2.50 per square foot.
If the asbestos is incorporated in a material that can become airborne, such as popcorn ceiling coverings, it is more costly, because the area of removal must be encapsulated, Kramkowski said.
Encapsulating is done by containing the entire area in a plastic enclosure that only allows air to enter and not to leave.
Removal while encapsulating costs an average of $3.50 to $4.00 per square foot, Kramkowski said.
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