# Asbestos in air



## Nina333 (Mar 28, 2021)

I just found out about asbestos and worried.

1. In my old condo i put 13 nails and 10 screws (by hand) into asbestos wall 4 years ago, took them out half year ago, without cleaning dust, which was falling most likely right into shoes, bed, furniture, things stored under bed. What to do with all the stuff?

2. In my new condo from 1970, they were fixing 10×10feet moldy floor. Under new floor there was left uncleaned dust/powder from before renovation where they teared the kitchen wall, part of popcorn ceiling, bathroom, not sure what else but I am worried the dust contained asbestos.It was approximately 2-4 tablespoon of dust and while they were fixing and tearing the floor it was blowned into the whole aparment where was carpet, furniture… What should I do with the carpet and everything else?

Please help! Thanks!!!


----------



## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

What I've learned about asbestos is don't disturb it. Don't sand it or cut it break it anything like that. 
If you think there's dust from disturbing it clean it up .
I've worked around it in the roofing trade many time. My old supervisor used to tell my stories when used asbestos for roofing under layment. 
They would make hats and drinking cup out of it.
The small exposure you might have experienced doesn't sound like a big deal to me.
Don't mess with it anymore get on with living.
Good Luck


----------



## tvrgeek (Nov 19, 2013)

Any floor tiles smaller than 12×12 will have asbestos
Some sheet linoleum and even some early sheet vinyl had asbestos in the backing. 
Worse is the old black mastic frequently had asbestos.
Much of the old drywall mud had asbestos. Only way to tell is with a microscope
Some old, Levitt in particular, houses had asbestos/cement duct work in the slab. 
Many old houses have cement asbestos siding shingles. Basically any of the old 18 inch ones. 
Of course, there was the expanded mica insulation granules that turned out to be full of it.
And the old steam plant pipe insulation.

So, safety? Do not disturb. 
For DIY, N100 mask, and keep everything flooded. Not legal, but safe. Of all, dealing with the drywall mud is the biggest problem as it gets airborne so easy. Even without it, a really good respirator is smart. Exposure risk is cumulative so don't freak out about it once.

If they were SO stupid not to manage the dust, they owe you for cleanup and testing.


----------



## Redoak49 (Dec 15, 2012)

Have you tested the dust? I would get a test to find out your exposure.

You can buy a test kit on Amazon or the big box stores like HomeDepot.


----------



## controlfreak (Jun 29, 2019)

I would not worry about past exposure because you can't undue that. The biggest risk is when you create airborne dust. Need to avoid sanding but if you encapsulate it you should be fine. My house has asbestos shingles that are basically ceramic. As long as I don't cut them with a skill saw I will be fine. Wear a mask and use a quality shop vac with filtration (maybe even place the vac outside in case the filters aren't 100%) clean all dust up and dispose of the filters in a closed bag.

I think the biggest hazard was to workers that worked around it on a daily basis. Sometimes the less said the better once you start testing and bring in "experts" you open the door to some expensive remediation. It will also document things that will rear their ugly head when it is time to sell.


----------



## LesB (Dec 21, 2008)

+1 for controlfreak. 
small exposure that you described it not a particular threat to your health; assuming you cleaned up after the work was done.

However if the asbestos building materials are still there do not disturb them any more with out a licensed asbestos abatement professional doing the work. That will be expensive. As long as the materials are in sound shape you can paint over them where possible to seal the asbestos in. Eventually you or someone is going to have to deal with the problem of removing all of it. With rare exceptions asbestos was not used in new building after about 1978, along with lead in paint.

If you go to sell the property most states would now require you to tell the new buyers about the problem and banks are reluctant to finance until it is abated.


----------



## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

Im 99.9% youre going to be just fine.

Asbestos in drywall is actually just in the compound. Plaster walls could have had asbestos mixed directly into it.

If youre worried about drilling into things an old trick was to put a dollop of shaving cream over where u wanted to drill or drive a screw. The foam grabs any dust.

If youre really wigged out have a company come pull an air sample. Thats the only way youre going to tell if there are fibers in the air.

20 years in the industry and id sleep just fine in your home.


----------



## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

I'm with the don't worry crowd, based on your description. I worked the shipyard, where the guy in the next room was pulling asbestos from piping with only an N95 mask for protection and we had nothing. I did brake jobs at gas stations as a kid. I played with tile and siding. I built my own 4'x8' fire proof box using what was said to be cement board (it wasn't). Any one of those things resulted in hundreds or thousands times the exposure.

Fifty years later, fat is a bigger problem for me than asbestos exposure.


----------



## Nina333 (Mar 28, 2021)

Thank you very much to everyone! Anyone would know what to do with carpet and things it might get into? Do washing clothes helps? And will the asbestos kind of slowly dissaper with wiping the floor and washing clothes or might it stay in the air and things forever?


----------



## metolius (May 26, 2016)

Sounds like you are still concerned and uncertain of risk. I suggest you get some of the dust into a ziplock bag and drop it off at an environmental testing lab.

Ive stripped a number of popcorn ceilings and each time I got a sample tested before work started. So far all testing has come back negative for asbestos.


----------



## Nina333 (Mar 28, 2021)

> Sounds like you are still concerned and uncertain of risk. I suggest you get some of the dust into a ziplock bag and drop it off at an environmental testing lab.
> 
> Ive stripped a number of popcorn ceilings and each time I got a sample tested before work started. So far all testing has come back negative for asbestos.
> 
> - metolius


Thank you for reply. I do not have the dust anymore, since they closed the floor already and all the surfaces were wiped, just after that i figured the dust could contain asbestos, so was too late to get it. Did you have popcorn ceilings from year 1970 or before and still tested negative? They told me that like 99% of them that year would contain asbestos. My concern is also the drywall because they did open kitchen so they demolished the whole kitchen wall. I cant test the wall becasue its gone, but someone in different apparment (but different number of rooms and little bit different kitchen so not sure if they could use different materials) said they tested drywall/plaster in kitchen and came negative. But i know the joints contain asbestos so not sure if they tested joints or just the drywall/plaster since on that lab sheet it just said kitchen drywall/plaster.


----------



## MrUnix (May 18, 2012)

Another "not to worry" vote. From the guys suing for Asbestos exposure (so you know it's the worst possible interpretation): "Asbestos generally has the worst effects when a person is exposed to an intense concentration of it, or they are exposed on a regular basis over a long period of time". Your exposure was neither, and very minimal if at all.

BTW: Asbestos is all around us, everywhere, and still used in products made and sold in the US - but your exposure level is so low, it is highly unlikely to have any effect. WebMD says: "Unless you work directly with asbestos on a regular basis, your chances of getting related diseases are low". The key is high concentration and/or long term exposure, so you are pretty safe IMO.

How is your Radon level?!? <grin>

Cheers,
Brad


----------



## crmitchell (Jan 13, 2013)

MrUnix said:


> Another "not to worry" vote. From the guys suing for Asbestos exposure (so you know it's the worst possible interpretation): "Asbestos generally has the worst effects when a person is exposed to an intense concentration of it, or they are exposed on a regular basis over a long period of time". Your exposure was neither, and very minimal if at all.
> 
> BTW: Asbestos is all around us, everywhere, and still used in products made and sold in the US - but your exposure level is so low, it is highly unlikely to have any effect. WebMD says: "Unless you work directly with asbestos on a regular basis, your chances of getting related diseases are low". The key is high concentration and/or long term exposure, so you are pretty safe IMO.
> 
> ...



There are 6 types of asbestos and not all are equally problematic. The publicity and lawyer scares have elevated asbestos to public enemy #1, which is not necessarily the case. 

Understand that the term "exposure" in toxicology carries a completely different meaning than the common perception. It is a 'dose' of something taken into the body, by inhalation, ingestion or absorbtion, in a quantity sufficient to provoke a response. Thus, if nothing enters the body, no exposure. 

In the case of asbestos, it takes years of frequent exposures to cause a problem. So, don't get worked up about a little dust.


----------



## Knockonit (Nov 5, 2017)

much ado about nada, asbestos is a long term issue, one much or be exposed for long periods or ingest copious amounts of it, its actually deposed of in plastic bags to the normal dump, so you might get the idea, disturbing the old stuff in similar to the old lead paint, take care, wash, wear a mask, and do not use air or vaccum to clean, damp usually assists, or one can paint with a sealing type paint, this works for lead and for asbestos in some cases, the only asbestos used mostly in drywall was for the accoustical ceilings, so if one is to scrap that stuff off, well now keep it wet, ect. 
good luck normal short term and what little you discribed is not the end all


----------

