Hi, I recently had some artex ceiling crumble and fall down (due to terrible leaking). Its quite old – more than 30 years. It was removed by labourers but now I am slightly worried about having inhaled asbestos as the artex ceiling was on the floor for many days and I was with the builders as it was being taken down. Should I be worried and if I should is there anything you can do?
Nothing you can really do at this point. If you have a sample of the material, take it to a local lab and have it tested. It is not likely to be asbestos. If asbestos, your exposure was probably so little that it would not even have hit regulatory level. It helps that it was wet since that reduces exposure even more. If positive, the latency period for that type of asbestos is 20-40 years. If you get it tested and it is positive, you should ask the building owner to properly clean the space.
Im just curious, but how big can asbestos tiles be? I know the tiny square ones are common, but can asbestos also be in the big rectangle ones to? If you don’t understand the size I can post pics.
the largest I have come across with asbestos is 4′X4′. They are not very common. You will fin 2′X4′ lay-in tile with asbestos in older buildings all the time.
Does simply one exposure to asbestos enough to lead to disease and cancer?
The answer is a single exposure has a chance to cause problems, all be it a very, very, very small chance. But you have not had one exposure. Remember, asbestos forms are minerals and you are exposed to fibers in the air each day. In most places you can not measure the level, but it is there because it is naturally present.
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