Health officials say last month’s Tustin hangar fire put the community at minimal risk of exposure to harmful contaminants, based on the results of air monitoring near the site.
Orange County Health Officer Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong said during a community webinar held Thursday, Dec. 28, that people further away from the hangar can resume normal activities, but people in the immediate area might want to “take more precautions” until the city’s contractors test homes for asbestos and lead. She did not offer specifics about what constituted a dangerous or safe distance from the fire zone, and a spokesperson for Tustin said details are still to come on how residents can request testing of their homes.
Throughout the hour-long webinar, health experts from government agencies and universities gave their thoughts on the health risks the fire posed to nearby residents, basing their opinions on test results. They emphasized that asbestos was not detected in the air.
The fire that broke out on Nov. 7 at the Marine Corps Air Station’s northern blimp hangar emitted asbestos debris into surrounding neighborhoods and forced the city to initiate a cleanup effort for over a thousand homes. The cleaning work is ongoing and residents have continued to ask questions about possible health risks associated with the fire.
Arthur Frank, an expert on the health risks associated with asbestos exposure and a professor of environmental and occupational health at Drexel University, said everyone inhales millions of asbestos fibers in their lifetime. He added that even if there were some elevated amount of asbestos in the air from the fire, the risk to an individual would be so small it would likely be unmeasurable.
The asbestos debris at the site has been encased and can be cleaned up in a way that poses no risk to workers or the community, Frank said. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control will provide oversight for the Navy’s clean-up plan at the hangar…
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