The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been conducting air monitoring tests in several towns affected by the recent floods in Iowa, hoping to keep an eye on the level of asbestos in the air caused by the damage and demolition of homes in the area.

According to an article in the Daily Iowan, the EPA notes that the tests are “purely precautionary” and part of normal procedure after floods like the ones that hit Iowa late last month. Similar measures were taken last year after serious flooding occurred in Kansas and other states along the Mississippi.

 Marion Burnside, the Iowa asbestos coordinator for the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, said the main concern with asbestos is that it is light and easily airborne as well as strong and durable, so it’s able to subsist through the flooding. Burnside said asbestos was once used in more than 36,000 building materials, such as acoustic insulation, thermal insulation, and fire proofing, and that many of the damaged homes and commercial buildings in the area probably contained some asbestos materials.

“When you disturb [asbestos], it can break,” he explained. “Friable” or crumbling asbestos is easy to inhale, Burnside added. When asbestos is inhaled, it can lodge in the chest area and eventually cause serious pulmonary diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Testing, says on-site EPA coordinator Kevin Larson, will continue for at least a few more weeks until officials are satisfied that no risk exists.

“We are trying to be proactive,” Larson said. “I think our message here is a positive one.”

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