Hi, we recently realised that a ceiling we sanded part of (1x1 metre) and which continued to crumble creating dust for around 4 years contains up to 4% chrysotile. We've had it patched up by a professional now and the visible dust underneath hoovered but I'm just really concerned about the exposure we've had and how much has been spread through the house by hoovering and walking through the dust. We also had a builder remove another ceiling with the same material around 10 years ago not knowing it contained it, there was lots of dust at the time. We're planning on removing the carpet in the room where it was crumbling, do you think keeping it damp while removing would be a good idea so any residue fibres that have settled in the carpet aren't disturbed again? Also, do you have any advice on how likely it is that asbestos is lingering in the house from the previous ceiling removal and stupidly using a hoover on the dust? My family think I'm overreacting but I just dread to think what we've been exposed to especially younger family members playing in the room when the ceiling was crumbling and us making it airborne by hoovering. Would a carpet cleaner remove anything left over? I want to chuck out the sofa in the room it was crumbling but can't persuade other family members to as they don't realised the risks and think I'm just being paranoid. I rang a company about air testing and they said as there's a low amount of asbestos in the ceiling and it was done years ago, it's very unlikely to be in the air so they don't think it's worth doing, although I don't think they realised that it continued to crumble after we sanded it. There are also cracks in our other Artex ceilings but I'm not sure how best to patch them up. I'd appreciate any advice.
Worried about asbestos exposure and d... - Lung Conditions C...
Worried about asbestos exposure and dust left in house
If you search "asbestos testing" followed by your area / location you will be able to have the situation checked.
Apart from asbestos, a crumbling plaster ceiling !!! Sanding !!!!
Get the professionals in.
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Hopefully not asbestos and hopefully no damage to little lungs or bigger lungs.
We already had it tested and it came back positive for Chrysotile, it's Artex so contains up to 4%. We had a professional patch up the ceiling and hoover the dust underneath. It just scared me that it was sanded before and left to crumble for years before being sorted.
why did you leave it for years! You knew the problem. I would go back to the person who did the fix and pose the questions to them regarding uplifting the carpet etc. Perhaps environmental health can advise you regarding your situation.
My family don't realise the risks of white asbestos and don't believe it will cause us any harm. I didn't know it contained it until I sent off a sample and I haven't been able to sleep since finding out. I can't go back to the person who did the fix because we had a problem with their quote.
The Asbestos FAQ link below will tell you all you need to know about your responsibilities. Regardless of what your family members think, it is dangerous to health, no doubt about that. You are aware there could be risk so your choices are, get professional help and advice regarding your situation; or not and carry on worrying and risk health further.
Its seems like a no brainer what to do. You want advice about the risks of lifting your carpet relating to concern that asbestos fibres may be present when doing so, you really need to get a risk assessment done.
Thanks, I've had a look at the link. I fully understand the risks of asbestos and am honestly very concerned. It's just my family have a view that only people who work in large amount of it get cancer which I have tried to explain isn't true but they won't listen. I contacted an air testing company and they said it isn't worth getting an air test as it would have settled. I'll have to have a look and see if I can get some advice from others.
Sanding an asbestos containing material is never a good idea, but it's done now so it's more a question of what you can do to mitigate any damage.
One "advantage" of chrysotile over the other two main asbestos types (amosite and crocidolite), is that its fibres are curly; this tends to result in larger fibres which are attached to the substrate (plaster in your case) and which are not easily respirable. Simply painting the ceiling afterwards is sufficient to seal any fibres in.
With regard to the dust, there are two standard ways of dealing with this: either vacuum using a HEPA filter, or wash/wipe the surface. The latter seems peculiar as asbestos is not actually soluble, but wetting it reduces fibre release and you may be able to remove quite a lot that way so you don't have much left when it dries out. Your idea of carpet washing sounds ideal.
I agree with the air testing - it's a waste of time. There is a lower limit for asbestos fibre counting to take account of the fact that it occurs naturally in the soil; it also used to be in brake pads and on the London Underground. Unless your house is sealed, natural ventilation would have removed any excess generated from the work, probably within days.
It's important to realise that asbestos doesn't leap out and grab you by the throat; it's disturbing it which gives rise to the problem. My advice, for what it's worth, would be to leave it alone in future!
Thank you so much for your reply! We're going to wear masks and get the carpet really damp and then remove it, as well as wiping down as much as we can in that room, although we can't afford to remove the furniture so I hope it'll be ok to keep it! I was going to buy a type H hoover and go over the house although they are expensive and I'm not sure if it's overkill, it's either that or a basic carpet cleaner. It just scares me that we left it crumbling for so many years and just continued to hoover it and spread it around. I feel like I've read everything on the internet at this point and it looks like Chrysotile is slightly less likely to cause mesothelioma than other types of asbestos although there is still very much a risk that I would rather not of had! You just read about people dying from such minimal exposures and it makes me feel so scared and stupid for leaving it so long and not getting it fixed straight away, especially when the whole family has been around it. I'm 100% going to leave it alone from now on, we've got some cracks in other ceilings that are all Artex so I'm going to fill these and paint over and then hopefully I'll be able to start sleeping well again! I was thinking of buying a HEPA air purifier as well just incase we do spur up any dust containing it when we're cleaning.
I wasn’t aware of a strong connection between chrysotile and mesothelioma, but I’m a decade or two out of date. It used to be associated more with crocidolite exposure, chrysotile mainly being associated with lung cancer; since the latter tends to be dose related, you would not normally expect an issue to arise from a small or one-off dose.
If it’s any consolation, my sporadic exposure to asbestos started when I was 26; I am now 70 and, whilst I have two lung conditions, I am reliably informed that these have nothing to do with historic asbestos exposure. Whilst not attempting to downplay the risk, I suspect you would be very unlucky to suffer ill-effects from the sort of exposure you have described.
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