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Guys, thanks for the reassurance. I'm going to stop trying to research the subject, I think I'm driving myself nuts - I saw where they used to use asbestos in some concrete. I used to drill a few holes to mount equipment in like parking lots, some older concrete, and of course it created dust. Now the worry cycle starts again...
Yep;asbestos siding is much of a problem i removal as mnay toehr much mnore concentrted asbestos prodcuts are. I wold check with a local contracors to see what it typically would cost i your area. if left it is just a matter of repalcemnt with higher cost nonasbestos replacement if danaged.
Interesting--there are so many other dangers in the world, we all have different reactions to them! In my twenties I worked for a plumber and we took out old boilers from people's basements. You had to take a sledge hammer to them and break them down into sections to get them out. They are full of asbestos but of course back then I knew nothing of asbestos and we never wore any protective clothing or masks. Usually for several days after removing one everytime I blew my nose it was black tar/dust! In recent years I have rehabbed old houses, sanding away lead paint, tearing out old asbestos tiles on more than one occasion. Although I do wear a dust mask these days, I've never worried all that much about asbestos. This planet is so full of toxins, if one thing doesn't get you something else will! I've had several pulmonary function tests done over the years and in my mid 50s, I still have excellent respiratory function so, I guess the asbestosis hasn't fully matured yet.
Interesting--there are so many other dangers in the world, we all have different reactions to them! In my twenties I worked for a plumber and we took out old boilers from people's basements. You had to take a sledge hammer to them and break them down into sections to get them out. They are full of asbestos but of course back then I knew nothing of asbestos and we never wore any protective clothing or masks. Usually for several days after removing one everytime I blew my nose it was black tar/dust! In recent years I have rehabbed old houses, sanding away lead paint, tearing out old asbestos tiles on more than one occasion. Although I do wear a dust mask these days, I've never worried all that much about asbestos. This planet is so full of toxins, if one thing doesn't get you something else will! I've had several pulmonary function tests done over the years and in my mid 50s, I still have excellent respiratory function so, I guess the asbestosis hasn't fully matured yet.
If you got it by doing this work, you would be the first.
I love asbestos siding. It paints great, it looks good, it's fireproof and it lasts forever. I have painted chalky asbestos siding without even cleaning it. I just use a high quality primer and work that primer with my roller to make sure it has good adhesion. I painte an asbestos roof that way with 2 coats of BM exterior paint in 1982. It's still looking good and that's 29 years ago.
they really don't know the real long term affects on fiber-glass insulation and it very likely could be found to be worse than asbestos in the coming years.
I thought fiberglass insulation has been around for decades... I've seen it come out of LOTS of houses built in the 1950s if not a bit earlier.
eactly! according to an impartial, random google of "long term scary health effects of fiberglass insulation", the following phrases came up and so frightened me that I didn't make time to read any of it.
can cause irreversible neurotoxicity and neurodegenerative disorders fiberglass insulation formaldehyde causes brain cancer ingestion of formaldehyde in fiberglass insulation at low doses causes nervous system changes and damage
hi i read your comment on asbesto siding. i bought a home september 2011...end up having that asbesto siding i did not know about. however, we did not remove all of it only a small part out of ignorace....what we did is that we did put down all walls in the house and floors and insulation, this is my husband and i...i have a 3 and a 5 year old....there were most of the time outside while we put down the walls. six month after we were done on the inside of home and well we decided to just call someone to finish the outside stuff...(the siding.) anyway the first company that came out to bid, told me he was not going to remove it because of being asbestos, he scared me to death because he told me that probable most of the stuff we did inside had asbestos and now we had disturbed it. any way the first thing in came to my mind was my children i started crying and just been stress eversince, i cant help not thinking about it, i called the epa, and inspectors etc. and asked for advise. they all said we should be ok. and the kids as well, i know it will be god's will what ever we might have in our future i cant help worrying anyway not for me but my children. this was six months i might exposed my children. after we started installing the new walls i did allow my kids to come inside this was like 2 or 4 hours a day. it was dusty by i never thught i was like that guy told me "its would be like a death sentenced". specially to my children being that small. i am scare and stress, that house was built in 1949 i do not know if had previous renovations. anyway not from the outside that is for sure. i saw your comment and well you having the experience i hope for you to comment on my comment [EMAIL="nancyyaseli82@yahoo.com...thanks"]nancyyaseli82@yahoo.com...thanks[/EMAIL]. i did talk to a doctor and he said that we might be able to find out of contamination by a urine or poop sample. is this true?
While asbestos was commonly used in many building materials in 1949, it wasn't in all of them.
If you took up old flooring, it is likely it was asbestos. However, unless you were sanding it, the level of exposure is much lower than other materials. There is much less fiber release with floor tiles.
As far as the walls go....there was some asbestos in the gypsum board, but not all. There was asbestos in some of the joint compound, but not all. If the house was lath and plaster, asbestos was commonly used as a binder in the plaster. You would have had the greatest risk of exposure during the wall demolition. The risk level increases with the amount of dust you generated as you were tearing it down.
Asbestos was used in some insulation products, but not all.
The chance of having asbestos building materials in a 1949 house is pretty good, but it is not a given. Could your kids have been exposed to asbestos during your renovation? Sure. Did you give them a death sentence? Not likely.
If there are any walls left with the original material, a simple test can tell you if it contains asbestos, what kind it is, and the percentage. But if its all gone, then you just don't know what was there.
Asbestos affects the lungs. I'm not aware of any poop or pee test that could confirm asbestos. It's not like lead or mercury that gets into the blood. To oversimplify it, asbestos fibers get into the lungs when you breath in the dust. The fibers can lodge in the lung tissue and the body then attacks the fiber and tumors grow.
It is not a given that if a person is exposed to asbestos fibers they will get lung cancer. There are many people that have worked around heavy asbestos concentrations and have never gotten lung cancer. There are also many people that got lung cancer, and were never really around concentrated asbestos fibers.
Asbestos was used in many products, the most common is brakes for cars and trucks.
I would say to quit stressing about your kids. The person that told you that you had harmed your kids was an idiot. It's one thing to stop someone in the middle of doing something potentially harmful, and quite another to beat them up after the fact. IT really serves little purpose other than to just make the other person feel bad.
But, be careful in the future if you take on any other renovation projects, and take the proper precautions.
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