SITA CZ a.s.

Prague, 7 December 2011 - Asbestos has been detected so far in several schools and kindergartens in Prague and recently also in České Budějovice. According to the survey conducted by the Ministry of Education, another 300 schools all over the Czech Republic might be loaded with asbestos. SITA CZ specialises in removal of asbestos and other environment loads and thanks to its know-how it is able to remove asbestos fibres from a contaminated area down to values well below permissible limits. The remediation process consists of several cleaning stages, the basis being exchange and filtering of the air. "During decontamination of the Na Šutce School, parents chose on their own an independent laboratory which measured values and supervised our work. The final measurement after the end of the remediation proved that the site had been successfully decontaminated", says Rudolf Jaszay, who is in SITA responsible for asbestos remediation projects.

Why the asbestos is releasing in schools? "The reason is failure to follow correctly instructions applicable to the handling of asbestos materials during building works, this being typically the case of overcladding or replacement of windows. If the instructions are followed correctly and work is done in a protected area out of other school premises, the asbestos does not spread and is removed from the protective zone before the works are completed. If, however, a building company fails to protect the protective area, the asbestos will get everywhere. Then, it is essential to clean each and any object in the school or kindergarten, including all teddy bears. In order to fulfill such a task, it is essential - in addition to advanced technologies - to have dozens of people, depending on the size of the building, working there because each school wants to resume lessons as soon as possible", says Rudolf Jaszay.

In past, the asbestos was frequently used thanks to its good mechanical and heat properties. But today, the asbestos is either regulated or even forbidden material. The asbestos is provably a carcinogenic agent and its microscopic fibres can get into a human body and cause there cancer to proliferate. Now it is required to remove all asbestos materials affected by reconstruction of the building under strict conditions and to replace them with materials that are not harmful for health. Buildings which are potentially affected by the asbestos include schools, hospitals and administrative buildings built in the 1980s where the asbestos materials were not handled properly during reconstructions.