A recent asbestos concern at a Philadelphia high school is drawing attention to a problem that extends far beyond one building: the presence of asbestos in aging Pennsylvania schools.
Over the weekend, students and staff at Kensington High School were temporarily relocated to the vacant Austin Meehan school building after an asbestos concern was identified during an HVAC project. According to reporting from The Philadelphia Inquirer, the concern was discovered while workers were demolishing an older heating and cooling system. Once the issue was identified, the project was stopped while the school district began cleaning the building and conducting air-quality testing. Students and staff are expected to remain at the alternate location while the work continues.
The situation is a reminder that asbestos remains relevant in Pennsylvania, particularly as older schools and other public buildings undergo renovations. For decades, asbestos was considered a practical construction material because it was durable, inexpensive, and resistant to heat and fire. It was incorporated into many products used throughout schools, including pipe insulation, floor tiles, ceiling materials, roofing products, cement, fireproofing, and components of heating and ventilation systems.
The presence of asbestos in an older school does not automatically mean the building is dangerous. Asbestos-containing materials that remain intact and undisturbed generally present much less risk. The concern increases when those materials are damaged or disturbed. Renovation, demolition, maintenance work, water damage, or deterioration can cause microscopic asbestos fibers to become airborne.
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Why HVAC Projects Can Uncover Asbestos
The fact that the concern at Kensington High School emerged during an HVAC project is particularly significant. Heating and cooling systems in older buildings can involve extensive networks of pipes, boilers, ducts, insulation, and mechanical equipment. Asbestos was historically used around many of these systems because it could withstand high temperatures.
When older equipment is removed, workers may encounter insulation or other materials that have been in place for decades. Cutting, drilling, scraping, breaking, or demolishing those materials can potentially release asbestos fibers into the air. What begins as a routine modernization project can therefore become a much larger environmental and health concern.
That is why identifying potentially hazardous materials before construction begins is especially important when working in older buildings.
Pennsylvania’s Aging Schools
Kensington High School is not the only Pennsylvania school with a long construction history. Across the Commonwealth, schools have been built, expanded, renovated, and modernized over many generations. Some were constructed during the early or middle parts of the 20th century, when asbestos was widely used in commercial and institutional construction.
A school may have been built decades ago and then renovated several times. New flooring could have been installed over older flooring. New walls could have been constructed around older materials. Heating and cooling systems may have been replaced while portions of the original infrastructure remained in place.
This creates a complicated history inside older buildings. The age of a school alone does not establish whether asbestos is present. Its renovation history and the specific materials used throughout the building also matter.
School Workers Could Face Occupational Exposure
When asbestos in schools makes the news, the focus naturally turns toward students and teachers. However, schools are also workplaces for maintenance employees, custodians, plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, painters, construction workers, and contractors.
These workers may be more likely to disturb older building materials as part of their jobs.
A maintenance employee repairing an old pipe could encounter insulation. An electrician might drill through a wall containing asbestos-containing material. A contractor renovating a classroom could remove older flooring or ceiling materials. An HVAC technician could work around insulation surrounding pipes or mechanical equipment.
For workers who performed these types of tasks repeatedly over many years, exposure could occur without them knowing that asbestos was present.
The Long-Term Impact of Asbestos Exposure
One of the most troubling aspects of asbestos exposure is that the health effects may not appear immediately. Mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases can take decades to develop.
That means a Pennsylvania worker who spent years maintaining an older school building in the 1970s or 1980s may only now be experiencing the consequences of that exposure.
This long latency period can also make it difficult for people to remember exactly where they encountered asbestos. A former school maintenance worker may remember repairing boilers, replacing pipes, working on HVAC systems, or participating in renovations without remembering the specific products or materials involved.
An individual’s employment history can therefore become an important part of understanding potential asbestos exposure.
Renovation Can Bring Hidden Asbestos to the Surface
Asbestos does not disappear simply because a building gets older. It can remain behind walls, beneath floors, around pipes, or within mechanical systems for decades.
When an older school is renovated, however, those materials may be disturbed. This is why asbestos inspections and appropriate safety procedures are important before major renovation or demolition work begins.
In some cases, the safest approach may be to leave asbestos-containing materials undisturbed and properly manage them rather than unnecessarily removing them. The important first step is knowing what materials are present before construction begins.
What Kensington High School Can Teach Pennsylvania
The temporary relocation of Kensington High School students and staff demonstrates how quickly an asbestos concern can affect an entire school community. What began as an HVAC modernization project resulted in students and employees being moved to another building while testing and cleanup take place.
The situation also highlights a broader challenge facing Pennsylvania. Many of the state’s schools and public buildings were constructed during an era when asbestos was considered a standard and useful building material. Today, those same buildings require renovations and upgrades to meet modern needs.
As those projects move forward, workers may encounter materials that have been hidden inside the buildings for decades.
Pennsylvania’s asbestos history is often associated with steel mills, factories, power plants, shipyards, and other industrial workplaces. But the recent events at Kensington High School serve as a reminder that asbestos was also used in places where people went to school and worked every day.
For former school employees, maintenance workers, contractors, and construction crews who may have encountered asbestos decades ago, those old workplaces can remain an important part of their occupational history.
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As Pennsylvania continues to modernize its aging schools, understanding the materials used to build them may help protect today’s workers while also helping us understand the potential long-term impact on those who maintained these buildings in the past.
Sources: Inquirer.com