AboutMesothelioma.Net

Mesothelioma has often been associated with blue collar working men. A recent story from the UK has proving that it’s not just Navy shipyard workers and construction laborers who have to fear this deadly disease at their job. Carole Hagedorn, a 58- year-old high school languages teacher was diagnosed with mesothelioma after teaching in asbestos riddled schools for 30 years. In what could possibly the last years of her life, Hagedorn is making her voice heard and bringing awareness to the atrocity of asbestos exposure in schools.

Many of the schools in the UK were built to last twenty years, but many are still operating without full repairs 30 to 40 years later. As buildings deteriorate, exposure to asbestos that was used for wall or pipe insulation greatly increases. In the last 25 years, at least 178 teachers in the UK have died from mesothelioma. Countless other teachers and students have possibly been exposed. Since mesothelioma can take 20 to 30 years to form, it will be unknown for quite some time if any children have been affected.

We can only hope that this new awareness to the dangers of asbestos in schools can bring about new policies for change and that both teachers and students alike can attend a classroom free of the dangers of asbestos and mesothelioma.