I'm currently renovating an old 1920's home and have had an asbestos scare. I thought it would be good to share the knowledge. This is what I have learnt:
1) Asbestos dust can lodge in your lungs and can trigger cancer. Just because you have asbestos in your lungs doesn't mean you'll develop cancer. The dust is microscopic, so not visible.
2) I don't actually know if the stuff I'm dealing with is asbestos - to properly identify this I'd have to send a sample to a lab in Wellington(?) for a fee of close to $200. I have had rule of thumb advice that fiber cement sheeting manufactured before 1970's is highly likely to be asbestos. Chances are my stuff is asbestos.
3) You can deal with it yourself. Buy a decent breathing apparatus - not the crappy dust particle mask, and use the paper overalls - cheap and dispose of them at the end. And control the dust by the way of water. If you get the professionals to do it then there is a notification process and other shagging around, if you DIY you don't need to do this.
4) Get the professionals to remove the debris. You can't just dump asbestos in the rubbish bin - there's special areas and processes for asbestos dumping.
5) The asbestos removal firms are good for advice. As is the internet.
6) You are more likely to develop cancer from smoking.
Well thats about it really.
Chemill
1) Asbestos dust can lodge in your lungs and can trigger cancer. Just because you have asbestos in your lungs doesn't mean you'll develop cancer. The dust is microscopic, so not visible.
2) I don't actually know if the stuff I'm dealing with is asbestos - to properly identify this I'd have to send a sample to a lab in Wellington(?) for a fee of close to $200. I have had rule of thumb advice that fiber cement sheeting manufactured before 1970's is highly likely to be asbestos. Chances are my stuff is asbestos.
3) You can deal with it yourself. Buy a decent breathing apparatus - not the crappy dust particle mask, and use the paper overalls - cheap and dispose of them at the end. And control the dust by the way of water. If you get the professionals to do it then there is a notification process and other shagging around, if you DIY you don't need to do this.
4) Get the professionals to remove the debris. You can't just dump asbestos in the rubbish bin - there's special areas and processes for asbestos dumping.
5) The asbestos removal firms are good for advice. As is the internet.
6) You are more likely to develop cancer from smoking.
Well thats about it really.
Chemill
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