I've been exposed to asbestos...?

Question

I've removed about 1000 vinyl-asbestos tiles, without keeping them in tact (they were breaking)...

I hear that there is a risk when exposed to any amount of asbestos, but it was a one-time thing that lasted about 10 days...

I don't know how much asbestos is contained in these tiles and the black adhesive under them, but I'm seriously starting to worry...

Will I be OK, or should I be worrying for the next 10-50 years of my life while an asbestos related illness begins to form?

Answer 1

You'll be okay.

It's prolonged exposure you have to worry about.

Answer 2

I believe the 9x9 tiles are the tiles containing asbestos. Also if your just breaking them and lifting them it is not as much harm as smashing them and creating a lot of dust. Finally the asbestos scare was created from people working a lifetime with this c**p - there were a large percentage of cases of cancer from this exposure. Remember that there larger numbers of people that worked with asbestos their whole life that also had no problems. I don't believe that a small project like this will cause any problems and there is no way of finding out - you won't know until much later if it had an effect or not. So I wouldn't really do much worrying about it - you'd be better off worrying about driving safe. In the future buy one of those pricy mask - it's worth it.

Answer 3

Your risk from short term incidental exposure like what you mention is quite small.  If you were running a power saw through these tiles and breathing the dust coming off the saw and you did this five days a week for several years then you would have a level of risk worth worrying about. Just do not make a habit of working with these tiles or tearing down old houses.

Answer 4

I think that you should really do your research. These people don't seem to know very much about asbestos. I recently bought a house that has at least 3 different kinds of asbestos. 95% of 9x9 inch tiles contain asbestos. I have read that removing them could possibly lead to serious injury or even death.

I'm not trying to scare you but I think that you need to seek professional advice.

Answer 5

For starters; stop worrying. It won't help and the fact is you will probably never develop asbestosis. There are different types of asbestos, so are you sure that it was the one that has been linked with asbestosis? Also, you have probably been exposed to considerably more carcinogenic risk factors through your life but haven't been aware of it, such as the food we eat, smoke, electromagnetic radiation, mobile phones, etc........... None of which mean you will get cancer, just as you don't know if you will be injured in some accident, which could be as likely.

My dad was recently diagnosed with asbestosis at 89, after working in an asbestos laden car manufacturing plant for over 20 years! Highly likely that he would be effected, but it took some time to develop.

I think with your one off exposure, you would do well to worry about many other factors that could effect your health, if you really want something to worry about.

Relax!!