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Hello All, I myself am freaked out because my popcorn ceiling was recently removed in my home (while I was still in the house) and I got some samples tested and it came back positive with 4% asbestos!
I don't know what to do now as all our furniture and clothing were all still in the house as well! The workers who did the removal taped and covered up the walls, all of our furniture and clothing with plastic, but I am not sure if they did a great job of it. After they were done with the removal and repainting of the ceiling, they removed the plastic and vacuumed up all the debris with our vacuum.
My parents were the ones that called these contractors over to do the job, if they would've told me ahead of time I would've gotten the samples tested prior to the ceiling being removed! Please, any help would be appreciated. :'(
Was the ceiling ever painted? Did they wet it before removing it? Both will keep down the amount of loose fibers floating around. In any case, harm occurs from repeated exposure. I wouldn't worry too much about it, however the workers who removed it have a higher danger and should be concerned since they likely have many repeated exposures.
I would recommend talking to a caring doctor about your concerns. Not one of those doctors who will just say what they think you want to hear to pacify you and move you out the door, but someone who will take you seriously and perhaps even somehow x-ray or examine your lungs (if it's possible?) to make sure everything is OK. No one on C-D is going to be able to reassure you. You should talk to a professional.
As an aside - anxiety can also be deadly. Don't worry yourself to death. If you feel good now - enjoy it. Talk to your doctor and hopefully they can give you a clean bill of health and set your mind at ease. But what's done is done. Carpe diem.
Just don't scrape it...or if you do, you may want to have a piece tested to see if it's even something to worry about. If it contains asbestos then you can either still scape it off yourself (keeping it wet throughout) or hire a firm for $1000+ to do it for you if it makes you feel better. But if you're not planning on scraping it off, there is nothing to worry about unless you do major renovations which requires ripping up the ceiling. I'm actually not really sure asbestos had gotten that popular in homes yet in 1918...feel like it was more of a 50's - 70's thing, but I could be wrong.
You can scrape it safely, just wet it first and wear a mask. Do not grind it up and snort five lines of it every evening for three years. That is where you might have a problem.
Asbestos was used for siding/shingles in the 1920s. It was supposedly found in some (not all ) Vermiculite insulation from the 1930s - 1950s. It was used in flooring, especially flooring adhesives for a considerable time. I think that could go back to the early 1900s. Not sure. The popcorn ceiling was probably not installed in 1918. More likely it was used to cover up cracks in the plaster in the 1960s or 1970s.
Federal regs state, anything installed or built before 1980the is PACM. presumed asbestos containing material. Several posters have said that asbestos related diseases are caused by heavy exposure, over time. This is correct. The type of material matters a heap as well. Tbe most common type, used in building material is Crysotile. There ate three main types, classed by type of fiber. Crysotile(white asbestos) long, sticky, white fibers. Amosite( brown asbestos) generally considered the worst kind. Short, needle like, fibers. Used mainly in TSIs, Thermal system insulation. Lastly, Crocidylite( blue asbestos) fibers similar to Crysotile, with barb like, shorter fibers, along the length. Not a common material, outside of military buildings, used a lot in fireproofing.
.The exposure you had, is unlikely(very) to have any , far reaching, effects. Particularly since you used wet methods for much of it. Regulations treat asbestos like plutonium. Fiberglass insulation is just as bad, and they don't require level A suits to work with it. Go figure. The lawyers are the ones that really caused this scare. The hardcore regs are a liability thing. It's about the money.
I would think, you are just fine. Your exposure was very limited. No worries man. No need to go through any more bouts with fiber phobia. Hope this helps. I have had considerable training and experience with asbestos.
People that get paranoid about asbestos might be better off to look at that baby (talcum) powder they're liberally dusting themselves with after their shower.(or on their babies)
People that get paranoid about asbestos might be better off to look at that baby (talcum) powder they're liberally dusting themselves with after their shower.(or on their babies)
rightly so , and still being sold in the shops for new born babies.. sadly...any fine dust gets into the lungs..
Asbestos sucks. I just had a ceiling tile tested from our basement which came back 3%. The catch is I already removed and replaced about 2/3 of them before I realized those things could contain asbestos. The basement is where my two young kids spend lots of time too which makes me feel really guilty for doing it. I was careful not to break any of the old tiles inside, because I did want to keep the dust to a minimum for their sake. But inevitably removing them involved the sides sometimes scraping against the metal frames so I doubt it was kept to nothing. I'm not going to tell my wife, she's a worrier and will flip out. I'll just have to hope it's true what some people say that minimal exposures aren't too harmful.
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aused this scare. The hardcore regs are a liability thing. It's about the money. 
