A hidden hazard in plain sight: why lack of asbestos inspections in NYC schools during a recent audit poses urgent health questions for families.

In the heart of the nation’s largest school system, a quiet but potentially dangerous problem is growing. According to a recent audit released by the New York City (NYC) Comptroller’s Office, more than 80% of public school buildings in the city known to contain asbestos were not inspected over the last year despite being a federal law requirement. This has sparked concern among parents, educators, and health advocates who worry that students and school staff may be unknowingly exposed to one of the most well-known carcinogens lurking in older buildings.

While the New York City Department of Education continues to insist that its custodians are trained and procedures are in place to test for asbestos before any construction work takes place, the lack of routine inspections draws attention to a larger issue of how legacy materials are handled, as a whole, in aging public infrastructure—particularly those that can be hazardous to human health.

The Audit Findings

From May 2023 to April 2024, periodic asbestos inspections were conducted at just 22% of New York City schools where asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) are present. Under federal law (specifically the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, or AHERA) these inspections are supposed to happen every six months, regardless of whether any renovation or construction is planned. Comptroller Brad Lander’s office found that over a three-year period, from 2021 to 2024, up to 82% of school buildings with known asbestos hazards failed to receive the required inspections. This level of noncompliance is not just an issue of oversight. At that high of a percentage, the findings represent a complete lack of concern for safety and a potential public health crisis. In one particularly egregious example, P.S. 107 in Brooklyn had not been inspected since 2008.

Unequal Protection offered to NYC neighborhoods

The audit also revealed wide disparities across boroughs and neighborhoods. Brooklyn, with one of the largest school populations, had the lowest rate of compliance at just 13%. Queens wasn’t far behind at 16%, followed by Manhattan at 20%, Staten Island at 21%, and the Bronx at 25%. While no area can claim satisfactory compliance, the findings revealed, the situation in Brooklyn stands out as especially troubling given its student population density.

The Invisible Danger of Asbestos

Asbestos is not new to conversations about public health. For decades, it was sought after in the construction sector for its resistance to fire, water, and corrosion as well as its abundance, making the mineral inexpensive to use. Its tiny, durable fibers were mixed into insulation, ceiling tiles, floor tiles, carpet glue, pipe wrappings, cement, and many other areas both the interior and exterior of numerous public buildings. In the mid-1980s, however, its dangers became impossible to ignore and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), despite years of industry pushback, was finally successful in implementing a partial ban.

Scientific studies have conclusively linked asbestos exposure to a range of life-threatening illnesses, including mesothelioma, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, asbestosis, and many more. The fibers are microscopic, odorless, tasteless, and can remain suspended in the air for hours if disturbed. Even once these fibers settle, they are easily kicked up into the air time and time again.

Once released, asbestos fibers are easily inhaled or swallowed from the air.

Once inhaled, asbestos lodges itself inside lung tissue and remains there for decades, slowly causing inflammation, scarring, and cellular damage that may not manifest until years later. In fact, symptoms may not appear until 50-60 years after initial exposure.

The danger is especially significant in escuelas due to children being more susceptible to environmental toxins than adults. Their lungs are still developing, they breathe more rapidly than adults, and they spend long hours in the same indoor spaces. When asbestos is sealed and undisturbed, the immediate risk of exposure is relatively low. But normal wear and tear inside aging structures can eventually cause tiny fibers to become airborne.

To prevent this kind of silent exposure, AHERA was enacted in 1986, requiring all public and private K-12 schools to inspect for asbestos-containing materials and maintain a current asbestos management plan. These plans must be updated regularly and made available to the public, and all inspections must be documented every six months. The law was designed not just to handle asbestos in times of crisis, but to provide an ongoing monitoring system to ensure that deterioration, damage, or new exposures are identified before they can harm children and school staff.

Asbestos Dangers are ongoing in many old buildings like the NYC Schools.

That’s why the findings from the NYC Comptroller’s audit are so concerning. The Department of Education (DOE) maintains that custodians receive annual training, and that asbestos is tested for before construction projects. But this argument acts more as a band aid when a sustainable solution, and completely sidesteps the fact that inspections are required even when there is no construction project planned. Routine checks are the first line of defense against unnoticed deterioration, and their absence undermines the entire purpose of AHERA.

Community Reactions and Mixed Messages

Reactions among parents and educators to the audit’s findings have been mixed, with most expressing concern and a desire for more transparency. Educators and union leaders have also weighed in. Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, emphasized that the union takes complaints seriously and responds quickly when problems are reported. Still, such reactive approaches are not a substitute for the systematic inspections mandated by law.

Even the Comptroller himself acknowledged that the presence of asbestos does not automatically equate to a health crisis. But he stressed that it only takes one overlooked ceiling crack or damaged pipe to expose hundreds, even thousands, of children and staff to a dangerous carcinogen.

The Widespread Problem of Legacy Asbestos

What’s happening in New York City is just one chapter in a much larger story about aging infrastructure across the United States. Most buildings constructed before the mid-1980s still contain asbestos to this day. This includes not only escuelas, but also public libraries, courthouses, hospitals, transportation hubs, workplaces and other gathering spaces. The very things that made asbestos so popular in its heyday—its durability, versatility, and invisibility—are what make it so dangerous today. It doesn’t break down over time, and it doesn’t give off a smell or visual warning when it becomes airborne.

The risk increases during renovations, natural disasters, or even routine maintenance. A cracked floor tile or a gust of wind in a damaged attic is all it takes to release fibers into the air. Unfortunately, awareness alone is not enough to solve the problem. It takes planning, resources, and professional expertise to manage and remove asbestos safely.

The Importance of Professional Abatement

When asbestos must be removed, it always be done with the help of a profesional. Trained professionals use airtight containment zones, wear protective suits and masks, and follow strict disposal protocols using commercial grade equipment to ensure that fibers don’t escape into the surrounding environment. Cutting corners could be disastrous.

One cautionary tale comes from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the city recently sued contractors over allegedly negligent asbestos removal at a public library. The contractors, the city alleged, failed to follow basic safety procedures, leading to possible contamination of the library and neighboring areas. This case illustrates the risks of unqualified or careless removal efforts, and the potentially long-term health and legal consequences of getting it wrong. The story drives home the point made by experts that asbestos abatement must be done by licensed, trained professionals. Mistakes don’t just endanger the workers, they can leave invisible hazards behind for years to come.

A Call to Action

The findings of the NYC audit should serve as a wake-up call. While asbestos itself is invisible to the naked eye, the health risks if poses are not. They are well-documented, long-term, and deadly. What’s needed now is urgent and coordinated action. The city must immediately schedule inspections for all buildings previously flagged for asbestos, update public records on asbestos management plans, and allocate funding for safe abatement where needed. But the responsibility doesn’t stop with the government. Parents and educators must stay informed, request school asbestos records, and advocate for transparency and compliance at every level.

Some cities are already moving in the right direction. In Allentown, Pennsylvania, a recent grant is helping fund asbestos removal in older buildings, demonstrating how targeted investment and public accountability can go hand-in-hand. If New York City follows suit, it has the potential not only to fix its own oversight but also to become a model for other urban school districts dealing with similar issues.