Universities slow to dispose of hazardous asbestos buildings

Most public universities in Kenya have some of their old physical facilities still roofed with asbestos, a silicate inert material that does not conduct heat or electricity but is toxic and can cause lung cancer, especially among workers involved in the maintenance or demolition of derelict university buildings.

There are indicators that the risk of exposure to asbestos waste that includes asbestos fibres and dust from renovation, demolition and repair of asbestos roofing shingles and ceiling boards goes beyond affecting only university maintenance workers and could be widespread to cover students and other university staff working or accommodated in buildings constructed with asbestos materials.

In a study, ‘Determination of asbestos hazards exposure among maintenance workers in public universities in Kenya’, recently published by the East African Medical Journal, James Mithanga, a doctoral candidate at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, and his supervisors, Erastus Gatebe, a professor of analytical chemistry, and Robert Kinyua, a professor of physics and a researcher in renewable energy, found that university maintenance workers in Kenya, in particular, were exposed to high levels of asbestos fibres and dust.

The study noted universities have not had programmes highlighting the dangers of asbestos, although Kenya banned the materials in 2006.

“Furthermore, even though recommendations have been made to replace the ageing asbestos and other asbestos-containing materials, there is lack of funds and general unwillingness to replace or to dispose of them,” stated the study.

High levels of exposure

Exposure was found to be highest during the sweeping of asbestos debris in the universities that were surveyed. Those institutions included Laikipia, Embu, Egerton, Jomo Kenyatta, Murang’a, Kisii, and Kirinyaga.

Others were Kenyatta, Machakos, Maseno, Technical Mombasa, Pwani, Masinde Muliro, Technical Kenya, and the University of Nairobi. Those were the oldest universities or were initially set up as junior colleges to award certificates and diplomas but were later upgraded to university status.

But, what these institutions have in common is that they were built during the colonial era, or before the 1970s when asbestos-cement products were widely used in the construction of public buildings.

In an earlier study published by IOSR Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology and Food Technology, Mithanga noted that almost 50% of maintenance workers in 22 public universities in Kenya were aware that their working environment was unsafe from asbestos dust and fibres.

However, there was no evidence that maintenance workers in those universities were regularly trained in occupational health or even made aware periodically that asbestos materials were hazardous.

According to Mithanga, although the university management knows about the occupational hazards of asbestos fibres and dust exposure, there are hardly any safety precautions to safeguard the environment or personnel during the demolition, renovation or replacement of asbestos roofing materials by providing them with protective equipment, such as gloves, helmets, safety goggles, aprons, masks, muffs and overalls.

Implementation is weak

The issue is that, although Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority has guidelines on minimising risk to workers and the public from asbestos fibres and dust, implementation is weak – not just at the universities, but in so many other public and private institutions that have old buildings roofed with asbestos materials.

In one of his studies, Mithanga noted that 11.5% of the maintenance workers confirmed that some neighbours had been complaining of asbestos fibres pollution emanating from the universities’ buildings.

However, the risk of exposure to asbestos waste goes beyond Kenya’s borders and extends to so many other countries in Africa where asbestos has been widely used in the construction and insulation of pipes in the past 100 years, and only a few countries on the continent have an outright ban on the use of asbestos.

Health hazard

Global awareness of the risk of asbestos exposure has been highlighted by the World Health Organization (WHO) which says that asbestos is hazardous to humans, as it causes cancer of the lung, larynx and ovaries, as well as mesothelioma, a cancer that affects the linings of the lungs and other body organs.

According to the WHO, about 125 million people worldwide are exposed to asbestos in the workplace and approximately 50% of the deaths from occupational cancer are estimated to be caused by asbestos.

But, despite such severe health risks, the WHO says asbestos use continues in many countries in Africa.

Nevertheless, the biggest burden in most countries lies in the safe management and disposal of broken-down asbestos materials from public dilapidated buildings, some of which are in ruins.

Removal of asbestos

Subsequently, resulting from global awareness, several universities in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have been working on the removal and disposal of asbestos roofing sheets from some of their old buildings.

Since December last year, Egerton University, the oldest higher learning institution in Kenya, that was founded in 1939 as a farm school for the European settlers, has been working with Nakuru County to find a safe way of disposal of asbestos waste from old buildings that are being renovated.

“We want a permanent disposal facility sealed with concrete to ensure asbestos waste does not come into contact with human beings, animals or water sources,” said Professor Isaac Kibwage, the university’s vice-chancellor.

Three years ago, Daystar University, the oldest private university in Kenya, replaced asbestos material from its buildings with safe iron roofing sheets at its Lukenya campus. So far, Egerton and Daystar are the only universities in Kenya that have undertaken renovations to replace asbestos construction material.

In Uganda, Muteesa I Royal University has also replaced asbestos roofing sheets from the old buildings it had inherited from Masaka Technical College which was built in the 1960s. The move to replace asbestos at Muteesa I was undertaken when students protested against reeking roofs and highlighted to the university’s management the WHO’s awareness of the risks of the asbestos building materials.

For several years, Rwanda has been struggling to remove asbestos roofing from public and private buildings, and one of the main projects was at the University of Rwanda. Early this year, the university announced it had almost completed replacing asbestos roofing in its nine campuses.

Awareness of risks

What is emerging is that, although there is an awareness of the risks of asbestos exposure, many governments in Africa appear not to be interested in the issue because of the enormous cost that would be involved in replacing the material, especially in education institutions and other government utilities.

In this regard, universities in the continent are at a crossroads in that, unlike other public institutions, they are much more aware of the dangers posed by asbestos materials.

To varying degrees, it is not only the old buildings at the universities that are reeling under the stress of asbestos waste as, during the period of massification of higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa about three decades ago, many new buildings constructed in new universities to accommodate more students were roofed with asbestos-cement materials.

The issue is that, by then, asbestos-cement roofing materials were popular because of their durability, being fire-resistant and not conducting heat or electricity, in addition to having high tensile strength.

For now, questions remain unanswered as to how long it will take African countries to replace asbestos roofing and insulation materials in buildings, not just in the universities, but in other educational institutions and public utilities.

It is not clear why many countries have not effected a ban on asbestos building materials, or why they continue to import such products, irrespective of the health risks.

Whereas, Mithanga has raised the risks to maintenance workers in Kenyan public universities, it appears that more groups such as students accommodated in asbestos-roofed hostels as well as family members of university staff living in institutional houses constructed with such materials could also be at risk.

Taking into account that some people have been complaining of asbestos fibres and dust pollution emanating from the universities’ buildings in Kenya, the problem could possibly be even wider, considering that many universities in other countries in Africa could be facing similar situations.

In this case, Mithanga’s studies call for more research to establish whether his findings on Kenyan universities with asbestos roofing could be replicated in other African countries.