You don't need to ask them anything. You have to be exposed routinely for it to cause any harm. It is an occupation hazard, not a one time exposure hazard. They didn't find any in the classroom, only a trace amount in the hall. The exposure if any to the kids were minor.

Fear is big business here in the US. Media and online services thrive on "audience engagement." Their most powerful draws for your attention are fear, anger, hatred, and sex -- the basic non-rational animal instincts we all have deep inside our guts. That's why they've told you over and over again to be afraid of things that are essentially no threat to most people.

As FTL said, the folks who got asbestosis were the ones who handled it every working day -- the asbestos-product factory workers, and sometimes the installers. It was NOT people exposed to trace amounts once or twice in their lives.

Your kids' health is not at risk from this one-time tiny exposure (if they even get that). What risks their health -- and yours -- is the stress of YOUR worrying.

So please don't worry. Relax and have a nice hot cup of tea. They'll be fine.

Thank you all for your comments. I'm still concerned but I feel better now. Let me add a little bit information from what I know (quite limited).

The corridor space is approximately 4x16.5 feet.

Most of samples detected with asbestos are: Black bituminous adhesive and Black bituminous debris.

I also think that what the contractor did is terrible. I was angry as they worked while the teachers and children were in the adjoining classroom. In addition, they did not clean the floor properly before leaving. However, what the school and the building department did after receiving the test results was good. They moved the children to another classroom, cleaned the old room and it is remaining closed until now. Except one thing, I was only notified about this incident after nearly 1 week. Too late to wash the school bags, hat and uniform on that day.

@Kudzu9, I noted all the questions and will ask them in the coming meeting.

Good luck at the meeting. I'll be interested in how it goes. At a minimum, your questioning this should help prevent repeats with similar or other maintenance work (such as improper removal of vinyl asbestos tile, of asbestos insulation in the boiler room, etc.). I'd be seeking an outcome from the school or school board that they have written procedures in place that will be followed for handling such situations in the future and getting clarification of who will be responsible that these procedures are adhered to. It's easy for stuff like this to reoccur when there is no written policy and it's part of no one's job description.

I am wondering why, they were doing all that with children in the school in the first p lace. Most of the time, things like that are done during a vacation period or in the summer.

It's my understanding that asbestos cannot be safely removed from fabric (clothing, school bags, etc.). You may want to google this as I heard it second hand from the asbestos removal company who worked on our home.

Daisychain01, it was so bad for me as I don't know exactly what to do and googled desperately about asbestos. As mentioned, I was notified about the incident after nearly 1 week. I washed the hat, uniform (in the washing machine) and bag under the shower although I'm not sure if it is late. Thank you for reminding me to check again about this.

Some very good advice and info posted above. I also don't think you should fret too much over it. The exposure was a apparently minimal. What asbestos does (as well as most other toxins), when exposed to a low dose like that, is to cause a tiny increase in the probability of health effects over a lifetime. Similar to the way that smoking for a long period increases the risk of lung cancer. Quite different from an acute exposure to a large quantity of a toxin. The small dose and short exposure time means a very small increase in lifetime risk. It would be extremely unlikely for one exposure to cause disease.

I would suggest that you press the school to have an organized set of information about the building - an operations and maintenance plan - that keeps track of this type of information (asbestos, lead paint, anything else). A plan that is stored somewhere that it can't be lost or misplaced, and can be easily consulted, and 'goes with the building' rather than any particular employee. So this sort of thing does not happen again.