Asbestos in the Home: Where to Find It, What to Do About It, and Associated Health Risks
If your home was built between the 1940s and the 1980s, there’s a very good chance that it contains asbestos. And if you’re planning on doing any kind of renovation in your home today, you need to understand the health hazards associated with asbestos, as well as how to protect yourself from this toxic substance.
Asbestos is an organically occurring fibrous mineral, which has long been prized for its extreme ability to resist heat and fire, as well as its strength, durability, and flexibility. Since it can be woven into cloth or mixed with other materials to create building products, asbestos was widely used during the mid-20th century in a variety of commercial, residential, automotive and maritime applications. It was considered so useful, in fact, that at one time the United States military actually mandated its usage on Navy ships.
Unfortunately, asbestos has become known as a carcinogen. Its microscopic, needle-like fibers are easily inhaled when the material is damaged or crushed, and they can lead to devastating diseases such as mesothelioma—a cancer of the lining surrounding the bodily organs—lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural fibrosis. According to the EPA and OSHA, there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.
Most people, when they think about asbestos, think of insulation. Yet the material is used in many other places in the home, including door gaskets in furnaces, wood stoves or coal stoves; cement sheeting, millboard and paper used as insulation around furnaces and stoves; insulation for steam pipes, boilers and furnace ducts; cement roofing, shingles and siding; patching and joint compounds; textured paints; acoustical tiles used on the ceiling or walls; spray-on soundproofing or decorative material used on walls and ceilings; floor tiles, vinyl sheet flooring and floor tile backings and adhesives.
Because asbestos may lurk in many places, it is vital that you exercise caution when attempting a do-it-yourself home repair, construction or renovation project. First and foremost, if you know that asbestos exists in your home, it may be wise to leave its removal to the professionals. Asbestos abatement should be carried out by trained, qualified and well-equipped contractors. Even if you simply suspect the presence of asbestos, it is recommended that you have air samples taken by professionals. Often, asbestos-containing materials are safe when they remain undisturbed. It’s only when they become damaged that they pose a harm. If a material in your home—such as floor tile—contains asbestos, you may consider installing new flooring over it instead of removing it. Likewise, you should avoid drilling, sawing, sanding, scraping, or brushing asbestos materials. If there is debris present that may contain asbestos—crumbling insulation or flood-damaged building materials, for example—do not attempt to sweep, vacuum, remove or clean the area. When in doubt, contact a trained asbestos abatement contractor to perform inspection and testing of your home. These professionals can advise you on proper renovation procedures in order to keep you and your family safe from the hazard of asbestos.
Please visit http://www.asbestos.net/ for more information.
Categories: Asbestos Tile Removal Tags: Tags: vinyl sheet flooring over asbestos tiles, keyword luv home repair, patching asbestos tiles, popcorn ceiling hazard, when was asbestos in home floor tiles, can i sweep asbestos tile floor?, cement aspestos tile do it yorself, asbestos floor tiles home, safety popcorn ceilings undisturbed, what are the options if tile contains asbestos
Unforeseen Hazards Related To Health – Asbestos And Lead
Practically any demolition carries with it the possibility that you’ll run into asbestos and lead; especially in older homes. These could be extremely hazardous to your well being and precautions must be taken.
Lead paint is primarily present in homes constructed prior to 1978. The older the home, the greater the possibility that lead paint was used. Lead paint might be on the moldings, walls, ceilings, or even the floors. A main danger is that youngsters will chew on wood covered with lead paint.
Lead ingestion, both by inhalation or by swallowing, can produce all sorts of negative symptoms, which includes (at high levels) convulsions, coma, and death. At low levels it may well adversely affect the circulatory system, the kidneys, the central nervous system, and the brain. It could cause issues like hyperactivity, muscle and joint pain, high blood pressure, and hearing loss.
How Do I Know If I Have Lead Paint?
Testing for lead paint is fairly complicated, though simple assessments are available for homeowners. The perfect approach is to have a technician authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) come in and test the area of your concern (in addition to your complete home). The test costs round $350.
The hazard in renovation with lead paint comes when someone tries to remove it. The process of burning paint off of wood can launch lead into the air. Sanding lead paint can release lead particles into the air. (Normal vacuum cleaners cannot capture lead particles-specialized filters must be used.) Basically, when the lead paint is disturbed, it turns into a hazard.
Encapsulating lead-that’s, painting over it-is not considered an appropriate technique of dealing with the problem. The hazard is that the paint may chip off or oxidize and the lead could still get into the dwelling.
Perhaps the easiest way to take away the lead is solely to remove whatever it is painted on. Take off the molding and the lead paint goes with it. (Be sure it is properly disposed of. ) Remove the wallboard or plaster and the paint goes also.
For the most part, specialists (EPA-certified lead abatement technicians) are the only ones who can safely remove lead from a surface. Nonetheless, anytime anybody is working with lead, that individual ought to wear an approved respirator. Be ready for the cost. A total dwelling removal of lead paint can value $10,000 or extra!
Asbestos can be a greater problem. It can be present in floor tiles, sprayed on ceilings, and as insulation material wrapped round pipes (heating ducts as well as plumbing) or lining attics and roofs.
Breathing asbestos can result in asbestosis, a lung situation that can lead to death. It has also been linked to lung cancer and other diseases.
How Do I Acknowledge Asbestos?
Asbestos is a white materials with fibers. However it can be difficult to identify. It may be in solid state, as in vinyl asbestos tile. To be sure, you need to have a suspicious area tested. You can gather a pattern of the fabric you’re curious about and ship it off to a lab for testing.
For instance, it’s possible you may be thinking about removing floor tiles because you think they may contain asbestos. You possibly can ship a portion of a tile in and have it checked out. However make sure you send it to an accredited lab. Every state maintains labs accredited for this purpose. A clearinghouse can be found by the EPA (http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/index.htm).
If the asbestos isn’t sealed and fibers are breaking off-for instance, if you’re transferring floor tiles containing asbestos, or working on ceilings sprayed with asbestos (as was done in the Seventies to create an “acoustical” look)-it’s another matter. Anytime asbestos has been disturbed it becomes a danger to your health.
Once more, only technicians knowledgeable with the removal of asbestos should try to handle it. Do not remove asbestos yourself. The only time you should try to get it out of your home is if you’ve been specially trained to do so. Otherwise, you may make the condition a lot worse, plus endanger your loved ones and also yourself.
Elimination typically involves sealing off the entire area so no air can escape to the outside, then installing fans and filters to capture the unfastened asbestos fibers within the air while technicians in protecting gear and respirators take away whatever has come loose.
Encapsulating asbestos is usually thought to be an appropriate technique of handling it. As a sensible matter, a containment policy works well. If I suspect asbestos in ground tiles, for example, as a substitute of eradicating the ground, with the inherent possibility of releasing asbestos fibers into the air after which paying to have it professionally eliminated, I’ll install a barrier (such as plastic sheathing) and lay a brand new floor over the old. In many instances a new floor can be “floated” over an present floor, thus successfully encapsulating it. The same applies to coping with asbestos in other areas, similar to partitions and ceilings if the asbestos has not been disturbed. Encapsulation of 1 type or another followed by creation of a barrier to keep the area from being damaged is usually the cheapest method. The alternative-hiring a certified crew to remove the asbestos-can add up to more than your whole renovation job!
Do not overlook demolition-it should be calculated into every dwelling renovation job. Don’t dismiss the mess-it’s an unavoidable part of each house renovation.