Asbestos  is a very harmful material, being exposed to the deadly mineral can have very negative effects on your health. Many first world countries have completely banned the use of asbestos, including Canada.

    Asbestos has been used in many different forms for many different things, including building material, industrial material, and automobile parts. Although it has been almost completely banned in Canada, there are still ways that people can be exposed to it through the old building material or car parts.

    The University of Toronto recently had to undergo an asbestos abatement process due to a mysterious dust clouding the air. This “dust” was in fact airborne asbestos, which is extremely dangerous. If students were to inhale these asbestos fibers, they could face terrible health consequences in the future.

    When breathed in, the fibers of asbestos travel into the lungs and lodge themselves in the tissue there. When lodged into the tissue, they cause scarring and can even react with the surrounding cells to cause cancer. These effects are not immediate, however, and take a very long time to develop. If students inhale the asbestos regularly at the University of Toronto, they may be faced with pleural thickening, asbestosis, or asbestos related lung cancer down the line.

    Although the University of Toronto has supposedly removed the asbestos that was airborne and it should be safe to breathe in the air there, some groups doubt that the asbestos has been cleaned up enough. Groups like the University of Toronto Faculty Association claim that all though the asbestos has been majority cleaned up, they can still detect a small level of asbestos in the air. The University of Toronto claims that this level is not dangerous, and will not be taking any action on it.