The other tenants in the building can sue you. A multi family dwelling is not the place for any halfass DIY effort. Do not touch a thing in that building unless you are an actual licensed contractor.

There are no other tenants, but thank you for the information, Sophie Wheeler.

Thoughts on what I should do about our household items?

You need to have asbestos removed by a registered hazmat company.

Not only are you endangering yourself but the asbestos needs to be disposed of in a proper hazmat site rather than thrown out with the trash. To do anything else is illegal in many jurisdictions and even if not illegal is immoral as it is polluting the environment and endangering others.

I just had my popcorn ceiling removed and the percentage was lower. I hired a professional hazmat company who sealed it off so it couldn't contaminate anything. Everything that wasn't sealed off had to be removed. When it was done I had to have it retested by a Certification Company to ensure that it was asbestos free.

I live in Los Angeles which is an expensive area.

To remove approximately 1000 square feet of ceiling was about $5500. This included the mandatory testing before and after the actual removal. I thought the testing before was ridiculous since why would I hire a hazmat company at significant expense to remove if I didn't know it contained hazmat but it was the law so to speak.

You should call an asbestos abatement company in your town and find out the specifics.

I have to add that it appears that the damage to the environment has already been done since you released the asbestos into the environment and disposed of the asbestos contaminated materials improperly already - at least that's what appears to have been done so it's rather like closing the chicken coop after the fox.

For peace of mind, you can call a testing company in your area and see what the level of asbestos is and what their recommendations are for decontamination assuming there is asbestos still remaining on your personal belongings and the environment.

Airborne is just that, in the air. Anything that was in the air will have settled onto/into anything that is NOW in the space. That includes air vents, air ducts, exhaust fans, air return outlets, electrical sockets, etc., etc., etc.

A professional mitigation company can come in a deal with the building envelope and the stuff attached to the building (air vents, HVAC, etc). Walls can be dealt with by the same company, etc.

The soft furnishings are now "contaminated". Like any dust particle, the drapes, bedding, etc are now covered in that asbestos dust. They can be professionally cleaned (ask the remediation company who they would recommend). The bedding, clothing, etc can be tossed into washers/driers...that should do it....but again you want to be proactive about cleaning vents etc.

Exposure is negligible - in other words I wouldn't worry about it re: a health scare. It takes quite a bit of time (think miner in an Asbestos mine without masks) to get sick from it.

But the problem still remains: remediation was not done and asbestos was ?illegally? removed/disposed of. Dust now exists on every surface, in every air vent, in every nook and cranny. You are now aware of the existence of asbestos in the building envelope and will be legally required to properly remediate any/all surfaces that contain asbestos AND lead (possible if the earliest paint layers are pre-1978).

I would look at this from a legal stand point...not necessarily a "health" stand point. Start with the remediation experts in your area. Follow their advice - to the letter. If this will become a rental building and not just a family home, consult a lawyer.

Stop hubby from doing anything else on his own - for now. Testing is to be done FIRST...then he gets to swing hammer. The age of the building will tell you what the risks are....anything prior to 1978 had a HUGE risk of both asbestos (confirmed) and lead (paint and pipes).

And just to be clear, the clean-up at this point could be more expensive simply because it now includes EVERYWHERE (every surface on all three stories). Had a remediation company come in and dealt with this single room for you, they could have contained the dust to this area....no need to worry about dust in the air vents and the air returns, etc throughout the building. Draping off a single room is easy/cheap. Cleaning up a 3 story building = expensive.