Teachers and Lecturers Demand Stringent Asbestos Checks for School Buildings. Worries over risk for mesothelioma from exposure.

A teachers union in the United Kingdom is urging the government to carry out a survey of all schools to check whether potentially life-threatening asbestos is present, according to a BBC news report on Feb. 15, 2008. Asbestos is a known carcinogen that has been found to cause mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) has demanded that asbestos be removed from all schools by 2010, according to the report, which highlights the seriousness of the health risk, saying asbestos had been widely used in the United Kingdom between 1945 and 1975 when thousands of schools were built.

The union is reportedly deeply concerned about the continuing risk to teachers, support staff and pupils from asbestos in schools. Government statistics in the UK estimate that at least 182 people working in education died in Great Britain between 1980 and 2000 from mesothelioma alone.

Sadly, this situation is all too familiar to the attorneys in the Weitz & Luxenberg P.C. Asbestos Litigation unit here in the United States.

We are a leading plaintiffs' law firm that has represented people affected by mesothelioma for over 20 years. Men and women diagnosed with mesothelioma or lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure or secondary exposure may be entitled to compensation from the companies responsible for their disease.

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