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I've meant to update the status of my situation. The samples came back from the floor and pipes as 22% asbestos. So we've definitely been exposed it's all over the floor down there and we've walked in and out of the basement in socks slippers and shoes and right into our apartment. My main exposure would come from the area rug I took out of there tgat was covered in the stuff. I put it on the porch and beat it with a broom stick not knowing it was covered in adbestos. Also our neighbors dryer wasn't vebted out the window for a period of a few months and blew right on to the floor where this stuff is concetrated. The property manager isn't happy with the situation is not being nice to us but did say a company is suppose to come clean it up. Not sure how they clean it up since its been exposed and it's everywhere now I'm assuming all accumulated dust has asbestos down there. In the mean time we've been looking for a new place but it's hard with the time of year. Thanks for the responses guys. I just have to pray now that none of us get sick.
Not every exposure results in getting sick. Not even close. The chances are much higher that you'll never experience any illness from exposure. Its easy to let this become a real problem in that you think about it constantly. Don't let it.
If I thought I was putting my family at risk, I would move.
Know many people that will not even look at an older home... one of them was very proud of her new home a few years back and then she found out it had the bad Chinese Drywall and she walked away.
No one can tell you the right or wrong... life is too short to worry.
My family has been in and around the auto business for decades... as a kid I would replace brake linings and clutch disk facings... even have brake shoe grinders.
Thankfully, no one I know has come down with any asbestos related problems and this is from decades on the job...
One study I read in a medical journal said the vast majority of cases had two components... extreme exposure AND decades of smoking...
I work in the medical field. The cases of mesothelioma that I have seen were all in people who worked in asbestos mining jobs and had a predisposition to cancer in their families. YEARS of working in those mines! Also, all of the patients I have seen are quite elderly when the first symptoms appeared, 15-20 years after they retired
My husband is a mechanic and worked around brake parts containing asbestos all of his life, blowing off the dust, etc. Still healthy in his 60's.
I would be worried more about lead paint in the air, pesticides on our food, and tons of other things we are all exposed to every day, day in and day out. I get it that you tracked it in your house on the rug, on your socks, etc. But the ship has sailed and if you are going to live the rest of your life worrying about what every cough means, then you will miss a truly great portionof your life. We have all made mistakes. Shoot growing up in the 60's there were no seat belts, our parents all smoked and drank, moms didn't even think about stopping when they were pregnant, didn't have medical insurance or go to the doctor for anything, rode our bikes without helmets, and slept in cribs that were handed down for generations...and we are mostly all here to tell about it. Yes, accidents hapen but you can be killed by a bus walking across the street tomorrow. So cry a river, build a bridge, and get over it. You are wasting valuable daylight with your angst.
Thanks Utci that's kind of what needed to hear. We actually found a new place after searching for a couple weeks which felt hopeless cause every place we looked at was a scuzhole. This place we found is much nicer and in a better neighborhood. We would move to it regardless of our current situation. It's a lot more than what our current place cost but our current place is priced well below value. So low that you can't find an apartment even close to tgat price. The new place is a bit more realistic but still a deal considering the quality. now that I have to move does anyone have suggestions on how I should get my belongings out of the basement. 90% of the stuff is in a a separate area tgat has a door and was not down there during the abatement. I plan on grabbing a mask and wiping down the boxes and non porous items and throwing away any cloth items such as blankets.
You make it sound like there was a massive fiber release episode and there is asbestos fibers all over everything. Likely not the case.
You can buy Tyvek coveralls, and get a respirator. Then take a 5 gallon bucket of water, and a few rags down to the basement.
Use a slightly damp cloth to wipe down your belongings, rinsing it off frequently. When they remove asbestos they do it under wet conditions to reduce fiber release. It can't get airborne if its wet.
I would probably put all the clothes, etc in the washing machine (if I remember right, the laundry is in the basement. Like utsci said, your conditions do not sound like you need to continue to stress out so much over this.
There was a massive fiber release the samples from the accumulated dust on the floor tested positive at 22%. The landlord tore down all the insulation on the pipes and did a quick sweep up job leaving pieces and and dust everywhere. My stuff wasn't down there when it was done though but it is pretty much everywhere. To air on the side of caution I would assume any accumulated dust had to contain some level of asbestos considered to be dangerous. Which regulations consider anything above 1% to be asbestos containing and has to be properly handled at that point. At 22% in some areas I'm thinking that most of the accumulated dust contains more than 1%.
We moved into a duplex a little over 2 years ago when my only son was about 2 months old. A little over a week ago I went into the basement too look for a leak since my wife found water by the washing machine. As I was looking up I had seen the insulation for the boiler pipes had been removed and some of it still remained with pieces still hanging off of the pipes that had it removed. So I did more research and found that this was most likely asbestos. I went down looked some more and there's noticeable pieces of the stuff on the floor piles of the dust in corners where you can see it's been swept up. I'm having anxiety attacks now because we have been doing laundry down there almost every day or so for the past 2+ years. I even took an old carpet that was in good condition beat it out and put it on my porch wondering at the time how the hell does this much dust accumulate in this well now I know. We also have storage down there that I fear is ruined. My landlord was an idiot he would make unnecessary repairs and didn't know what the hell he was doing it doesn't surprise me he would do this. He has since sold the property and now a management company handles it. I'm mostly concerned about our health mainly my sons our belongings is my washer and dryer ruined is the stuff all over our clothes from the dryer in taking air. I have contacted numerous government departments with little help the code enforcement department refereed me to the labor department which came and took samples and we are still awaiting the test results. What should I do. Move out I know but what about my basement storage do I toss it. Hire a company to do a private testing or just move and take my stuff. Help please?
You'll live......
You don't want to know how much I have been exposed over the years....
It's like smoking a cigarette......take your chances and......
Forget about that guy. He's just tossing a grenade into the discussion.
Get some test results before you start burning a bunch of nervous energy. For all you know it could be calcium blocks or rock wool.
I work around asbestos all the time and have so for the past 30 years. If you walk into a building built pre '74, you're surrounded with it, some structures use it in their siding, lots in floor tiles. The white stuff, I hear, is the tame variety, the brown paper type is the rascal you want to avoid.
If you smoke, avoid the habit in areas of possible exposure. If you smoke, you probably don't really care about your health that much to begin with.
That's not entirely true....typical "smokers" build up immunities to such things. It's why a regular smoker can go into a room with a cracked heat exchanger and full of carbon monoxide and feel for the most part fine, while everyone else is dizzy, puking and filling ill or passing out.
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