Air tests find no asbestos or quartz outside Tammela demolition

Air quality measurements carried out between 16 and 28 September, commissioned by Tampereen tilapalvelut Oy and conducted by the University of Tampere, show no significant asbestos or quartz exposure outside the Tammela school demolition site.

The demolition is part of a wider Tammela school renovation that began earlier this year; some original materials, such as bricks and granite, will be salvaged for reuse.

A mobile laboratory measured air at two nearby streets, Väinölänkatu and Ilmarinkatu, roughly 20–30 metres from the demolition and about 100 metres from the temporary school building used by pupils. It found markedly elevated dust concentrations on the Väinölänkatu side, which fell with distance. Turbulent winds around nearby buildings sometimes pushed the dust cloud past the instruments, making readings farther from the site harder to interpret.

Workers used a water cannon for most of the demolition to suppress dust, but the spray did not reach the roof of the relatively tall building and did not clearly reduce respirable or fine particle levels. Watering access routes and crushed stone piles at construction sites generally helps limit dust spread near schools and nurseries.