Asbestos Exposure at Chicago Daycares

Every parent in Chicago trusts that their child’s daycare is safe. You expect clean air, a well-maintained building, and staff who take your child’s health seriously. But in older buildings across neighborhoods like Pilsen, Bridgeport, Humboldt Park, and Rogers Park, a hidden danger may be present: asbestos. When daycare facilities operate in aging structures without proper inspections or maintenance, children can breathe in microscopic fibers that cause serious, life-altering diseases. If your child was exposed to asbestos at a Chicago daycare, you may have legal rights worth understanding. The attorneys at Briskman Briskman & Greenberg are a Chicago abogado de lesiones personales team that handles cases involving children harmed by unsafe conditions at daycare facilities.

Table of Contents

• Why Asbestos Is a Real Risk in Chicago Daycare Buildings
• What the Law Says About Asbestos in Daycare Facilities
• How Children Get Exposed to Asbestos at Daycares
• Illinois Law and Your Right to Sue for Asbestos Exposure
• What Damages Can Families Recover and What to Do Now
• FAQs About Asbestos Exposure at Chicago Daycares

Why Asbestos Is a Real Risk in Chicago Daycare Buildings

Chicago is a city built on history, and that history includes thousands of buildings constructed before 1980. Many daycare centers operate inside these older structures, including converted storefronts near the Loop, residential buildings in Logan Square, and church basements on the North Side. All schools built before 1980 likely contain asbestos. The same holds true for the commercial and residential buildings that house many of Chicago’s daycare facilities. Asbestos was used widely in floor tiles, ceiling tiles, pipe insulation, and wall plaster because of its heat-resistant properties. When those materials age, get damaged, or are disturbed during renovation work, asbestos fibers can become airborne.

“Friable” refers to asbestos that can be easily crumbled by hand or contact, and if damaged could become airborne and inhaled or swallowed. Young children in daycare settings crawl on floors, play near walls, and breathe at lower heights than adults, putting them closer to where asbestos fibers may concentrate. In a 1980 risk assessment, the EPA said children may be at greater risk than adults, noting that “the highly active nature of school children and their physical characteristics generate concern that, under similar circumstances, their degree of actual exposure to asbestos may be greater than that of adults.” Daycare children are even younger and more active than school-age children. That makes the risk even more serious when a facility fails to properly manage asbestos-containing materials.

Asbestos-related illnesses have a latency period of 10 to 40 years or longer. Since children have longer lifespans following exposure, their lifetime risks are higher. A child exposed to asbestos in a Chicago daycare today may not develop symptoms for decades. That long gap between exposure and illness is one reason why parents need to act quickly to document what happened and consult with an attorney as soon as possible.

What the Law Says About Asbestos in Daycare Facilities

Federal law created a framework for managing asbestos in buildings where children spend time. Pursuant to the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), the Asbestos-Containing Materials in Schools Rule requires local education agencies to inspect their school buildings for asbestos-containing building material, prepare asbestos management plans, and perform asbestos response actions to prevent or reduce asbestos hazards. However, AHERA does not automatically cover all daycare centers. Generally, nursery and daycare centers are not subject to AHERA because they generally do not fall within the definition of “school” under AHERA or the asbestos in schools rule. This gap in federal coverage means many Chicago daycares operate in buildings with no mandatory asbestos inspection requirement under AHERA.

That said, other laws still apply. The Illinois EPA Asbestos Unit protects the people of the State of Illinois and the environment from asbestos exposure. The Illinois EPA is the USEPA-delegated authority to enforce the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for regulated asbestos during demolition, renovation, and disposal. Under NESHAP, the regulations require the owner of the building or the operator to notify the appropriate state agency before any demolition, or before any renovations of buildings that could contain a certain threshold amount of asbestos or asbestos-containing material. If a daycare’s landlord or building owner did renovation work without following these notification rules, and children were exposed as a result, that failure can support a negligence claim. Illinois also has its own regulations under Title 77, Part 855 of the Illinois Administrative Code, which governs asbestos abatement for public and private schools and commercial buildings in Illinois. People who manage or abate asbestos in elementary and secondary schools must be trained and licensed. Daycare operators who fail to hire licensed professionals for any asbestos-related work in their facilities may be acting negligently under Illinois law.

How Children Get Exposed to Asbestos at Daycares

Asbestos exposure at a daycare rarely happens because someone made an obvious mistake. It usually happens because a building owner or facility operator ignored a problem that had been building for years. While asbestos is not dangerous when undisturbed, aging infrastructure, renovations, or damage can release hazardous asbestos fibers into the air. In older educational facilities, asbestos-containing materials are often located in areas where even minor maintenance or water damage can disturb these materials, releasing invisible fibers into classrooms and hallways. Think about a daycare in a 1960s building in Wicker Park where a pipe bursts in the ceiling. A maintenance worker patches the ceiling without testing for asbestos first. Fibers become airborne. Children breathe them in for days before anyone realizes what happened.

Common sources of asbestos exposure in older Chicago buildings include damaged floor tiles, deteriorating pipe insulation in boiler rooms, crumbling ceiling plaster, and disturbed wall insulation. Floor tiles and flooring adhesives are common sources of asbestos exposure in schools. Children’s noses and mouths are closer to the floor, and this may subject them to higher concentrations of asbestos fibers. Daycare children spend significant time on the floor during play, nap time, and activities. That puts them in direct contact with one of the most common locations for asbestos-containing materials in older buildings.

Exposure can also happen during building renovations if proper precautions are not taken. Under the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and NESHAP regulations, building owners must notify the Illinois EPA at least 10 working days before starting a regulated asbestos demolition or renovation project. Failure to submit the Asbestos Demolition/Renovation/Asbestos Project Notification Form to the Illinois EPA 10 working days prior to the start date could result in additional fees or penalties. But penalties for the building owner are cold comfort to a family whose child was exposed. The real harm is to the child, and that harm can form the basis of a civil lawsuit.

Illinois Law and Your Right to Sue for Asbestos Exposure

Illinois law gives families a path to seek compensation when a child is harmed by asbestos exposure due to someone else’s negligence. A daycare operator has a legal duty to provide a safe environment for the children in their care. That duty includes knowing about hazardous conditions in the building, addressing them properly, and not exposing children to known dangers. When a daycare fails that duty, the Illinois Child Care Act of 1969 (225 ILCS 10) holds licensed facilities to strict standards of care. A violation of those standards can support a negligence claim in civil court.

Illinois also has the Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act (820 ILCS 310), which establishes important principles about asbestos-related disease claims. Under Section 1 of that Act, in cases involving asbestosis, the last employer where a person was exposed to asbestos for a period of 60 days or more bears liability. While this provision applies in the workers’ compensation context, the underlying principles about exposure duration and causation inform how Illinois courts analyze asbestos-related injury claims more broadly. Under Section 3 of the Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act, when an employer violates any statute intended to protect health, that violation constitutes negligence. A daycare that ignores NESHAP notification requirements or hires unlicensed workers to disturb asbestos-containing materials may be violating statutes designed to protect health, which can establish negligence in a civil claim. Health officials and scientists agree that inhalation or ingestion of asbestos fibers can cause cancer or other lung diseases whose symptoms may not show up for decades. Illinois courts recognize that the delayed nature of asbestos-related illness does not eliminate a family’s right to seek compensation.

Families should also know that property owners and landlords can share liability. If a Chicago daycare leases space in a building where the landlord knew about asbestos and failed to disclose or remediate it, the landlord may also be a proper defendant. Multiple parties sharing responsibility for a child’s injury is a common issue in daycare cases, and an attorney can help identify all potentially liable parties.

What Damages Can Families Recover and What to Do Now

When asbestos exposure at a Chicago daycare causes injury to a child, Illinois law allows families to pursue compensation for a range of losses. These can include current and future medical expenses, costs of ongoing health monitoring, pain and suffering, and, in the most serious cases, damages for long-term disability or loss of future earning capacity. Children who are exposed to asbestos face the same risks as exposed adults, including an increased risk of developing mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, or asbestosis later in life. Mesothelioma treatment is expensive, and the financial burden on a family can be staggering. Compensation from a civil lawsuit can help offset those costs.

Timing matters in these cases. Under Section 3 of the Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act (820 ILCS 310/3), every action for damages for injury to health must be commenced within three years after the last day of the last exposure to the hazard. For asbestos cases involving children, Illinois courts also apply the discovery rule, which can toll the statute of limitations until the injury is discovered or reasonably should have been discovered. Because asbestos-related diseases can take decades to appear, the legal timeline in these cases requires careful attention from an experienced attorney.

If you believe your child was exposed to asbestos at a Chicago daycare, take action now. Document everything: the name and address of the facility, dates your child attended, any notices you received about building conditions, and any medical evaluations your child has had. Report your concerns to the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Chicago Department of Public Health. Then contact an attorney who handles daycare injury cases in Illinois. The attorneys at Briskman Briskman & Greenberg handle cases involving children harmed by unsafe conditions at Chicago daycare facilities. Call us at (312) 222-0010 to discuss your situation. There is no cost for an initial consultation, and we can help you understand your options.

This content is informational and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. Past results in any case do not guarantee similar outcomes in future cases. Briskman Briskman & Greenberg, 351 W. Hubbard Street, Suite 810, Chicago, IL 60654.

FAQs About Asbestos Exposure at Chicago Daycares

Are Chicago daycare centers required by law to inspect for asbestos?

Most standalone daycare centers are not covered by the federal Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), which applies to public school districts and non-profit private schools. However, daycare facilities operating in older buildings are still subject to other federal and Illinois rules, including the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) enforced by the Illinois EPA. These rules require proper notification and procedures before any renovation or demolition that could disturb asbestos-containing materials. A daycare that ignores these requirements, or whose building owner does, may be acting negligently under Illinois law.

How do I know if my child was exposed to asbestos at their daycare?

Asbestos exposure leaves no immediate symptoms. You generally cannot see, smell, or feel asbestos fibers in the air. Warning signs that asbestos may be present include a building built before 1980, visible damage to ceiling tiles or floor tiles, recent renovation work done without proper precautions, or a notice from the facility or a government agency about asbestos in the building. If you have concerns, ask the daycare operator directly about the building’s asbestos management history. You can also contact the Illinois Department of Public Health or the Chicago Department of Public Health for guidance on testing and inspection resources.

What diseases can asbestos exposure cause in children?

Asbestos exposure can cause mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, and asbestosis. These diseases often take 10 to 40 years or more to develop after exposure, which is why childhood exposure is particularly serious. A child exposed at a young age has more years ahead during which the disease can develop. The American Cancer Society notes that the risk of mesothelioma is highest for those who experience exposure at an early age. Regular medical monitoring is important for any child with a known or suspected asbestos exposure history.

Can I sue a Chicago daycare for asbestos exposure even if my child is not sick yet?

Illinois law generally requires that a person suffer an actual injury before filing a personal injury lawsuit. However, the discovery rule in Illinois can affect when the statute of limitations begins to run, particularly in cases where the injury takes years to manifest. If your child has been exposed to asbestos, it is important to consult with an attorney now, even before symptoms appear, so that you understand your rights and can preserve evidence. Waiting too long can affect your ability to bring a claim later. Contact Briskman Briskman & Greenberg at (312) 222-0010 to discuss your specific situation.

Who can be held responsible for asbestos exposure at a Chicago daycare?

Responsibility can fall on multiple parties, including the daycare operator, the building owner or landlord, a contractor who disturbed asbestos during renovation work without proper precautions, or even a manufacturer of asbestos-containing building materials. Illinois law allows plaintiffs to pursue claims against all parties whose negligence contributed to the exposure. A thorough investigation is needed to identify every responsible party. The attorneys at Briskman Briskman & Greenberg can help investigate the facts of your case and determine who may be held accountable under Illinois law.

More Resources About Medical and Health-Related Harm

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