Asbestos floor tiles
Discussion
A few years ago I installed a wooden floor in our kitchen.
When I lifted the old flooring, I found vinyl tiles underneath. They were pretty well stuck down so I ended up having to remove about half of them using a hammer and chisel, breaking them up in situ.
Its only now I have discovered that they probably contained asbestos.
At most I was exposed for about five hours or so while removing them.
Should I be worried???
When I lifted the old flooring, I found vinyl tiles underneath. They were pretty well stuck down so I ended up having to remove about half of them using a hammer and chisel, breaking them up in situ.
Its only now I have discovered that they probably contained asbestos.
At most I was exposed for about five hours or so while removing them.
Should I be worried???
illmonkey said:
go get checked out. Why worrie...
I thought no symptoms etc appeard for decades??rsv gone! said:
Lino sheets included asbestos for many years. Unless you caused dust whilst doing it, you should be OK.
(Usual disclaimers apply)
I broke loads of them in half, and chipping at them is bound to have released something...(Usual disclaimers apply)
sleep envy said:
Mike400 said:
Should I be worried???
did you creat dust and were you wearing a mask?Basically most of the ones I "chipped" at broke up as I chipped away, no real dust as I remember just loads of broken up bits of tile...
If any of the fibres were released as a dust I would go and get yourself checked out. We have serious issues with asbestos on my current site and any remote hint of any being present results in that part of the site being quarantined until further tests can be carried out. If these tests come out as positive, a specially trained crew is sent in to remove and bag all traces of the asbestos and surrounding material for safe disposal.
It is taken really seriously these days.
It is taken really seriously these days.
Mike400 said:
sleep envy said:
Mike400 said:
Should I be worried???
did you creat dust and were you wearing a mask?Basically most of the ones I "chipped" at broke up as I chipped away, no real dust as I remember just loads of broken up bits of tile...
Mike400 said:
illmonkey said:
go get checked out. Why worrie...
I thought no symptoms etc appeard for decades??Anyway, a quick google and/or doctor visit will confirm. I know i'd go, just to be sure
illmonkey said:
My understanding was they are there, but you wont find out if its effecting you for year at which point you drop dead. But I may be well wrong.
yes you are - stop spouting patent rubbishOP - the likelyhood is that you'll have created little dust if the tiles cracked and you weren't exactly exposed to a longterm, massive dose
as RSV says your more likely to suffer from other things first
Edited by sleep envy on Wednesday 12th November 16:41
i've been exposed a few times, imagine cutting through an old chainlink fence with a circular saw buried in overgrowth, and not noticing the dumped concrete tiles on the other side!
On the bright side, asbestosis is a bit of a lottery, i've heard of, for example, a child that contracted this from fibres from his/her father's clothes, but daddy was OK.
I don't think there is any preventative measures, and you won't see the effects for many years, but to keep things in perspective, not all asbestos workers contracted it, and they spent their lives in a cloud of dust.
In short, there is always that possibility, but thankfully it'll be pretty small.
On the bright side, asbestosis is a bit of a lottery, i've heard of, for example, a child that contracted this from fibres from his/her father's clothes, but daddy was OK.
I don't think there is any preventative measures, and you won't see the effects for many years, but to keep things in perspective, not all asbestos workers contracted it, and they spent their lives in a cloud of dust.
In short, there is always that possibility, but thankfully it'll be pretty small.
dear oh dearApologies for going slightly O/T here but it amazes me the huge effort that goes into the removal of asbestos from sites and all the precautions that are taken when handling it. We use a vast amount of rockwool on site and this stuff blows about and is very fibrous, (I believe it's use is even banned in some countries) yet no effort is made to protect workers and prevent them breathing it in. The same goes for when I go in and inspect the insides of various tanks and ducting after they have been 'blasted' with grit. The air inside hangs with nasty black dust that the guys in there breath in and no masks are provided or even deemed to be required.
I wonder if in twenty of thirty years people like myself will suffer from the effects of breathing these materials in? Will the be banned in the same way as asbestos has been?
I'm more 'thinking out loud' as it were but I do find it fascinating to see how some things that were once deemed safe are now seen as dangerous.
I wonder if in twenty of thirty years people like myself will suffer from the effects of breathing these materials in? Will the be banned in the same way as asbestos has been?
I'm more 'thinking out loud' as it were but I do find it fascinating to see how some things that were once deemed safe are now seen as dangerous.
The thing is that there is a proven link between asbestos fibres and cancer. No such proven link exists with mineral fibres such as rockwool. Any dust is nasty though if you breath enough of it in.
Generally there is a incubation period of 25 to 40 years between exposure and cancer which is why the figures are distorted. Plenty of time to die of something else. Also, not everyone will be effected, its not as simple as exposure = death. Lots of other factors (genes etc), bit like smoking.
The risk assessment is done according to the likleyhood of the asbestos containing material (such as floor tiles) releasing fibres. Very unlikley in the rigid bitumastic materials or cement based sheets as the fibres are locked up in the materials matrix. Floor tiles are NOT condsidered high risk at all.
The nasty stuff is loose asbestos insulation such as pipe lagging which should be dealt with by licensed contractors working under controlled conditions. HTH.
Generally there is a incubation period of 25 to 40 years between exposure and cancer which is why the figures are distorted. Plenty of time to die of something else. Also, not everyone will be effected, its not as simple as exposure = death. Lots of other factors (genes etc), bit like smoking.
The risk assessment is done according to the likleyhood of the asbestos containing material (such as floor tiles) releasing fibres. Very unlikley in the rigid bitumastic materials or cement based sheets as the fibres are locked up in the materials matrix. Floor tiles are NOT condsidered high risk at all.
The nasty stuff is loose asbestos insulation such as pipe lagging which should be dealt with by licensed contractors working under controlled conditions. HTH.
bob1179 said:
Apologies for going slightly O/T here but it amazes me the huge effort that goes into the removal of asbestos from sites and all the precautions that are taken when handling it. We use a vast amount of rockwool on site and this stuff blows about and is very fibrous, (I believe it's use is even banned in some countries) yet no effort is made to protect workers and prevent them breathing it in. The same goes for when I go in and inspect the insides of various tanks and ducting after they have been 'blasted' with grit. The air inside hangs with nasty black dust that the guys in there breath in and no masks are provided or even deemed to be required.
I wonder if in twenty of thirty years people like myself will suffer from the effects of breathing these materials in? Will the be banned in the same way as asbestos has been?
I'm more 'thinking out loud' as it were but I do find it fascinating to see how some things that were once deemed safe are now seen as dangerous.
Funny how MDF is banned in the US but you constantly see people sanding it down without a mask on over hereI wonder if in twenty of thirty years people like myself will suffer from the effects of breathing these materials in? Will the be banned in the same way as asbestos has been?
I'm more 'thinking out loud' as it were but I do find it fascinating to see how some things that were once deemed safe are now seen as dangerous.
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