Air quality testing at a Fort Bragg Army barrack this week did not reveal asbestos contamination, according to an Army doctor. Tests were conducted after 10 soldiers were ordered to rip up old asbestos-containing floor tiles in a barrack storeroom, which may have released asbestos fibers into the air.

Dr. Bryan Sleigh, who represents the 82nd Airborne Division, said that the levels of asbestos exposure in the last three weeks following the removal of contaminated tiles “were not harmful.”

The Army will continue to monitor the soldiers who may have been exposed by providing medical tests once a year for the next five years. Tests after that time period will be provided every five years.

Concerns about exposure were voiced last week after a soldier called his father to express his concerns following orders to rip up and replace old floor tiles. The solider told his father that an Army sergeant warned him and other soldiers to “be careful” of the asbestos-containing tiles, but failed to provide them with masks or other safety equipment.

The soldier’s father reportedly called a sergeant at Fort Bragg to explain the dangers of asbestos exposure, and the tile removal project was halted temporarily. Soldiers were eventually ordered to finish the project, still without safety equipment.

Fort Bragg officials stated that an enviromental group came into the area in question to properly seal it off and clean it. The state is also conducting an investigation to determine whether or not the Army mishandled the situation.

If the soldiers had inhaled asbestos, they would be at a heightened risk of one day developing mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer that has a latency period of as many as 50 years.

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