Ryerson is looking for a company to evaluate the amount of asbestos on campus, according to a request filed by the university earlier this month.
The university has filed an inquiry seeking a engineering and environmental consulting firms in a bid to find one that can assess the level of asbestos on campus.
Since much of the campus was built in the 1960s, a number of buildings are deteriorating and at risk for asbestos. (Read more of Samantha Lui’s story here.)
If disturbed asbestos can be cancerous and cause other illnesses like severe lung problems. Going around campus, the Eyeopener’s intern team asked students for their feelings on the matter. Watch our video below.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/16035921[/vimeo]
Natalie
Seriously? You ask students what they think about asbestos? You don’t even give out enough facts and you therefore create fear in them. Yes, asbestos can cause asbestosis (scarring of the lung tissue), lung cancer and mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the organs). But in large qualities. You’d have to be working with asbestos day in and day out with no personal protective equipment. ALSO, it must be friable. It has to be flying around in order to get into your respiratory system. People in buildings that contain asbestos are not going to be exposed to it (it’s usually found to be sprayed onto beams, insulates piping, wires etc.). Maybe if we had students wearing asbestos firefighter suits (google this for images), then there would be greater exposure. But asbestos in a building probably will not be as large of a problem than being exposed to it outside (car parts like brakes contain asbestos). But by law, contractors now have to test for it and remove it. The above video is a big FAIL.