Students should not worry about asbestos because the small amounts in NIU buildings do not pose a health threat.

Eddie Williams, NIU vice-president of Finance and Planning, told the University Council Wednesday that although 55 percent of NIU buildings contain asbestos, the carcinogen must be inhaled to be dangerous.

“Just because asbestos is in a building, doesn’t mean it’s hazardous,” Williams said.

People working with high doses of asbestos or with asbestos on a daily basis run a higher risk of getting cancer than those who do not, the Illinois Department of Public Health reports.

In 1985, asbestos was first discovered in a University Health Services ceiling during a building condition audit. Although not verified, asbestos might have been released in Graham Hall when workers installing new blinds accidentally loosened ceiling plaster that encased the substance in 1989.

Despite the potential health hazards, Williams said it is a “great tragedy” that America is so worried about removing asbestos when it costs millions of dollars.

NIU trains its Physical Plant employees with Environmental Protection Agency guidelines about handling asbestos, Williams said.

NIU also hired Parkland Laboratory in Springfield, Ill., to help solve asbestos problems and would like to hire a full-time industrial hygenist to deal with the “wide-spread problem,” Williams said.

Williams reassured the council that there is not an asbestos problem in Zulauf Hall after being questioned by Philosophy Professor Sherman Stanage. “If a building is not identified as having an asbestos problem, there isn’t a problem,” Williams said.

To prevent asbestos problems, any building construction must be approved by NIU Safety Officer Robert Vest. However, because NIU buildings are getting older, the asbestos problem “is not going to go away,” he said.