金曜日, 3月 17

Asbestos or Secondhand Smoke???

I've been pondering over a thought, one of which has indeed been a hot topic the past few years in Japan- asbestos in public areas. There are many articles on it...but here's a little link. It was "discovered" that my age-old Junior High is completely covered in the stuff. No surprise since even back home, this was a common problem in the 80's and 90's...and I believe it was resolved then some 10-20 years ago for most places. But here in my Japanese town a new school is in the works...in like 3 years...so they went for a cheaper alternative to removing the asbestos. They covered the ceilings with plastic and tape holding the strips together and patching the holes where the lights drop down. Hmmmm, I wonder how much protection this really is in a classroom where the wind blows through some cracks in the windows and the ceiling occasionally leaks water?? I've gotta get a picture of this handy work sometime. But the part that really humors me even more...I wonder that the public isn't so concerned about all the secondhand smoke we get to inhale everyday in the teacher's room. Students and fellow teachers alike. I guess Japanese common sense isn't always to my understanding!!!! If anyone can enlighten me, please do!! (Pictures to follow...when I can smuggle my camera in for some good shots ^_^!)

4 件のコメント:

匿名 さんのコメント...

Asbestos is only really a problem if there is something to cause dust to form. This could be friction between sheets of the stuff, but usually (at least in western more sturdy, earthquake non-resistant buildings!) it requires some kind of maintenance work to be going on. Like when Mr Smith the Janitor comes along and drills some holes to hang up a few pictures or something, the drilling makes dust that mr smith breaths most and gets cancer. Poor old Mr smith... But the reason it is removed (they did this in the UK 10 years ago or so) is so that there is no risk of future construction work, maintenance and that kind of thing will create dust and cause problems.
At least thats what they told us when they were removing it from our school!

Sarah Lizzy Beth さんのコメント...

Good to know!! I suppose since they're building the new school right next door and the school does shake quite a bit with the construction machinery...that dust maybe be more likely...but hopefully it will all be resolved SOON!!

匿名 さんのコメント...

maybe you should buy one of those masks and have a "cold" the rest of term...

匿名 さんのコメント...

¡Hola! Here at McPherson High School they took out all the asbestos when they did the big add-on project. We had it everywhere, even in the floor tiles! But so did/does everyone else!
Love, mom