Group says students exposed to cancer-causing asbestos

MANILA, Philippines - Students are at risk of developing cancer due to exposure to asbestos-laden materials used for science experiments, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) reported yesterday.

Asbestos-laden wire gauzes are still being used in Chemistry and Biology classes, visits conducted by the TUCP in several public and private schools showed.

The TUCP said a Department of Education (DepEd) directive bans the use of cancer causing materials in schools.

“We should not sacrifice the health of our future citizens and that of our teachers and non-teaching school personnel by not complying with the ban,” TUCP officer Alan Tanjusay said.

He said DepEd should immediately order the removal of asbestos-laden wire gauzes in schools.

Tanjusay said samples of wire gauzes used by schools and laboratories contain three percent Chrysotile asbestos, tests conducted by a private laboratory showed.

He said asbestos wire gauzes, which are used as heat insulator and regulator of beakers, become crumbly after repeated exposure to high and direct flame.

“When the crumbly gauze is disturbed, first and second-hand exposure from its dust begins. We cannot see the dust because each dust is invisible to the naked eye – it is five thousand times smaller than a hair in diameter,” Tanjusay said.

The World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have affirmed since 1977 that exposure to asbestos causes cancer in the lungs, larynx, and the ovaries.

About 125 million people worldwide are reportedly exposed to asbestos at the workplace.

Coughing, chest pain, blood in the sputum, swelling in the neck or face, difficulty swallowing, loss of appetite and weight loss are among the symptoms of diseases caused by asbestos exposure.