Many of the schools built in Boston and surrounding suburbs were constructed at a time when asbestos was heavily used during the construction process. The reason asbestos was used is because it is a cheap naturally occurring mineral that has a tremendous ability to withstand heat, fire, electricity, and caustic chemicals.
Asbestos was used as insulation in walls, ceilings, roofing tiles, around pipes and boilers, and it was also used for its ability as a chemical bonding agent. This means it was used in most construction cements and joining compounds. It was very dangerous to the miners extracting asbestos from the ground and everyone who worked in transporting it and processing it into building materials. It was also very dangerous to the workers who were installing the materials in the schools when they were originally constructed. Continue reading