Freaking out - Exposure to Asbestos?
makeithome
12 years ago
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Chenoa Solis-Fine
4 years agozbutler1125 .
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Very worried about possible asbestos exposure?
Comments (8)Jane- Many people read about asbestos and get spooked, which sounds like what you have done. Don't get me wrong, asbestos is bad stuff; I know because I spent most of my career as an environmental engineer working in this area. However, in your case, I think it is unlikely you had any exposure from that work in the hallway. If they were removing asbestos insulation from old ducts and furnaces, or popcorn ceilings, then, yes. But just because they tore out what looks like a lot of old plaster and made a lot of dust means nothing. There may have been some lead dust in the air from the old paint, but that is a different story. As far as getting rid of your possessions, that's the uninformed panic talking...there is no need for that. (Even if there had been asbestos dust involved, a cleaning with an HVAC vacuum would have taken care of that, if it were necessary.) Please, you have been reading a bunch of scary stuff on the Internet and, having no background to properly assess the situation, have gotten upset. Take a deep breath and relax. Many people are ignorant of environmental risks and get into trouble unknowingly; in your case, you may be over-aware and too concerned about possibilities. I'm not trying to make light of your concern; I'm just trying to get you out of panic mode on this. It's fine and you will be fine....See MorePlease help! Worried about possible asbestos exposure
Comments (7)I was an auto mechanic for several decades, coming into contact with asbestos dust on occasion(averaging once a month or so) for several years. Plus I was a smoker for 35+ years. I have had four CT scans of my lungs(am 69 years old) in the past two years---zero problems. No spots, no shadows, nothing. One doctor actually asked me if I really did smoke. No one in that house, to include your daughter is at risk....See MoreWorried about asbestos exposure from a while ago.
Comments (10)You can smoke three packs a day and not get lung cancer, or die of it from second hand smoke (as 7300 people do every year, according to the CDC). The asbestos exposure health risk isn’t strictly linear either. I believe you are oversimplifying those results, the meta-analysis showed that lifetime non-smokers who lived with smokers for many years were 20% more likely to contract lung cancer than lifetime non-smokers who lived with non-smokers. Certainly enough to take action in public areas, but hardly convincing evidence of the non-linear relationship of cancer to exposure. The only way to know your health status is to see your physician, describe your exposure, and keep going in for your annual check-ups. Let's ignore that we are in a pandemic right now and statistically speaking that the greatest risk of lung damage imaginable right now is visiting a room full of people who might be infected with a virus that attacks the lungs. What tests do you want them to run on a 23 year old person with no symptoms who possibly had a minor exposure to asbestos in the past? Are you advising $15,000 (that insurance is not going to pay for) in annual tests to monitor a possible condition with one in a billion odds of occurring? Maybe everyone who has walked through a cloud of second hand smoke needs the same tests. Feel free to discuss this with your doctor, I never said otherwise, but don't panic about it. You are incredibly unlikely to develop serious consequences from the single exposure described. However, I was actually just riding in the car with my favorite doctor when I saw the response and she had one piece of advice for you, "you should definitely tell him not to marry a guy whose passion is remodeling old houses."...See MoreFreaking out about asbestos!
Comments (9)OK...so this link to Health Canada's website must be complete bunk, is it? Yes. There are similar things from U.S. agencies but you must realize that government agencies tend to bow to certain pressures. I am going to copy this from an earlier post on the same subject... I really don't want to get into the mold discussion, but it is one of those areas where there is a lot more misinformation than good information. Indoor molds are simply not that bad for you. The single study that found a connection between indoor mold and health problems was rescinded by the CDC when errors were found in the study. Since then hundreds of peer reviewed scientific studies have found no connection between indoor mold and health problems. The mycotoxins in indoor home environments simply don't approach harmful levels, and have really only been found in agricultural areas and buildings. In most of the country, indoor air tends to have fewer mold spores and mycotoxins than outdoor air. Feel free to look further into it, you can start here - http://users.physics.harvard.edu/~wilson/soundscience/mold/gots1.html Mostly, news and litigators exaggerated this story. This is not to say that mold should never be addressed, but it shouldn't always be addressed. Indoor molds may be problematic to those who already have a sensitivity to it, such as those allergic to mold and those with asthma, as an asthma sufferer I want to add, indoor environments are still better than outdoor, but you want your home to be as comfortable as possible, mold isn't really a problem for me personally, but dust and pollen can be. ETA: Toxicity is literally the degree to which exposure can cause damage to an organism. So toxicity quite literally means long exposure to mold....See MoreElizabeth
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