Thousands of students and teachers in Philadelphia are being put at risk of cancer in classrooms, an investigation has found.
Asbestos is often used as insulation in schools, but can release tiny cancer-causing fibers if disturbed — with schools told to inspect it for damage every six months.
But a five-year secret federal probe has found that the School District of Philadelphia — the eighth-largest in the US — routinely failed to carry out the inspections at some of its schools.
And in many cases, school officials were reportedly aware of exposed asbestos in classrooms, hallways and gymnasiums for years, but took no action.
Investigators also said that repair jobs were inadequate when completed, in some cases using duct tape to try to cover the cladding.
Federal investigators did not test asbestos levels in classrooms, but 2020 tests carried out by the teachers union found ‘alarming’ levels at one of the schools.
The failures were revealed as federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against the school system Thursday — the first time authorities have taken action over asbestos failures in schools.
At least two teachers fear asbestos caused their cancer, including veteran educator Lea DiRusso — who used to hang children’s work on asbestos-clad pipes.
And at least three of the district’s 317 schools have been forced to close over asbestos contamination in their buildings, forcing students into other schools or into online classes.
Lea DiRusso, pictured above, was diagnosed with mesothelioma after working in two of the affected schools for three decades. She said she used to hang students work on the asbestos-laced pipes
Asbestos was heavily used in the early 1940s to the 1980s as insulation for roofs and pipes because of its heat- and fire-resistant properties.
It’s harmless when left in place, but scientists have found that when the fibers are exposed and breathed in by humans they raise the risk of cancerous mutations in cells.
Almost all cases of mesothelioma, a highly aggressive cancer in the lining of organs that only one in ten patients survive, are linked to asbestos exposure. The cancer can take decades to develop.
Asbestos has also been linked to other cancers, including lung cancer, laryngeal cancer — a cancer in the neck, and ovarian cancer.
In Philadelphia, about 300 of the 339 buildings run by the school district contain asbestos, investigators said, with the schools serving 200,000 students and 12,000 staff every year.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said there is a ‘longstanding and widespread problem’ of asbestos contamination in Philadelphia’s schools that had ‘endangered’ students and staff.
It detected 31 school buildings that had asbestos problems between April 2015 and November 2023, with some having multiple areas of asbestos damage.
Seven schools were highlighted for having major asbestos problems: William Meredith Elementary; Building 21 Alternative High School; Southwark Elementary; S. Weir Mitchell Elementary; Charles W. Henry Elementary; Universal Vare Charter School; and Frankford High School.
Uncovered asbestos shown on a pipe behind a basketball net in a school gymnasium in Philadelphia
The above picture shows exposed asbestos at one of the system’s 317 schools. This image was taken in a classroom
And the above shows a child sucking his thumb while hugging an asbestos-covered pipe
One of these, Frankford High School, has now been shuttered for at least two years while staff prepare to start work to remove the asbestos.
In a deal with the district, the school has agreed to undertake work to rectify the issues in order to avoid prosecution.
The school district has blamed funding for the issues, but says it has now employed a team of 39 employees at its environmental office to allow it to carry out the inspections.
Under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), public buildings like schools are required to conduct basic inspections for damaged asbestos every six months — and repair any they find.
They are also required to conduct in-depth inspections of their buildings every three years to check for asbestos.
These inspections often take several days to complete and require students and staff not to be present.
Lea DiRusso, speaking in 2019, said both herself and colleagues were totally unaware that their building contained asbestos.
‘When you come into a room on a Monday morning, and you’re starting to set up, and you see dust across your desk, or dust on the ground… you just scoop it up, you clean it up, and you move on,’ she said.
Juan Nanmun was diagnosed with papillary carcinoma in 2022 after working as a physical education teacher at Frankford High School, which has closed over its asbestos exposure. He has accused the school of causing his cancer
Asbestos problems in Philadelphia’s schools were first revealed in 2018, after a Philadelphia Inquirer article warned of the widespread risk of exposure in many of the district’s schools.
This led the school system to begin a $37million renovation project, which quickly revealed damaged asbestos in several of the schools.
School closures and the relocation of thousands of students quickly followed, as work was undertaken to extract asbestos from the buildings.
Federal prosecutors began their investigation in 2020 amid concerns, demanding that the school system hand over its asbestos inspection records.
