New tests show no asbestos concern from Praxair fire

ST. LOUIS -- New tests confirmed that airborne asbestos is not a problem near the site of a massive fire at a gas distribution business, a Missouri Department of Natural Resources official said Friday.

After explosions and a fire at a Praxair Distribution Inc. plant in St. Louis on June 24, Praxair contractors conducted tests to make sure the air was safe. Those tests were monitored by St. Louis agencies, but DNR decided earlier this week to run its own tests, after word that some debris from the fire contained asbestos.

An onsite coordinator for the DNR, John Whitaker, said the agency conducted its own tests Thursday, where air pumps were set up to draw air through filters. Those filters were then analyzed with an electron microscope for asbestos fibers, and all results came in lower than the level of concern, which would have been .01 fibers per cubic centimeter, he said.

Whitaker said some debris cleanup must still be done but that DNR's test results were a good sign. Tiny fibers in asbestos can cause cancer and other ailments when inhaled.

DNR's tests help to confirm what Praxair and city agencies have been saying, that there was nothing problematic in air tests near the site of the fire.

A phone call to Danbury, Conn.-based Praxair after business hours was not returned.