Children could be attending lessons in schools containing potentially dangerous asbestos, Welsh Conservative AM Nick Ramsay has warned.
Mr Ramsay raised the issue in the National Assembly after co-hosting a conference on asbestos at the National Assembly with a firm specialising in asbestos surveys based in his Monmouth constituency.
Since 1980, 300 teachers have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, which is a cancer related to asbestosis. Mr Ramsay is deeply concerned that children could also be at risk.
Nick said: "Owing to the latency, dormancy and long incubation period of asbestos-related conditions, they do not always show up immediately when people have been exposed to asbestos. Therefore, there is a pressing need to discuss concerns about the effect of asbestos in school buildings on teachers, staff and pupils.
"We need to tackle the asbestos timebomb in our schools and I will continue to do all I can to raise the profile of this deeply worrying problem."