How In The World Can Asbestos Threaten You?
… There Are A Few Ways Your Air Can Become Contaminated
We recently made a new friend named Bill (as far as you know), and we were happy to make his home asbestos free. But here’s the story on how Bill came to make our acquaintance.
“Yep, your place is definitely contaminated by airborne asbestos,” said Scott, the crackerjack asbestos tester Bill’s wife had called in. “I’d suggest you get in touch with Asbestos Abatement, Inc. at your earliest convenience. They’re the best in the business at solving asbestos problems like this.”
“We’ll do that!” said Bill’s wife.
“Wait a minute!” said Bill. “I know you’re a crackerjack asbestos tester – my wife says everybody says so – but how in the world did our place get contaminated by crackerjack asbestos?”
“There’s no asbestos in crackerjack, as far as you know,” said Scott, “but there are a few different ways a contamination like this could occur. I see the walls of your kitchen are a bit charred. What happened there?”
“Well, we did have a little fire in there a couple weeks ago,” Bill said.
“He tried to make lasagna,” Bills’ wife said.
“But I had it out in a minute!” said Bill.
“He burned up half of my good pans,” said Bill’s wife, “and you can see what happened to the walls and countertop.”
“Yes, well, a house fire – even a small one – can release asbestos into the air,” said Scott. “The plastic handles of your pots and pans, and the materials in your walls and countertop, can contain asbestos.”
“What?” said Bill. “I thought asbestos was illegal in this country!”
“You sure did,” muttered Bill’s wife.
“It is illegal to mine asbestos in the U.S., and to manufacture things with it, but it’s still legal to import the ugly stuff. Tons of asbestos products arrive here every year,” Scott explained.
“As long as it’s not disturbed, the asbestos in those products is not dangerous,” said Scott. “But the smoke from melted plastic definitely counts as a disturbance.”
“And that little fire was enough to put a dangerous amount of asbestos in the air?” Bill said, his face showing clear incredulity. “I didn’t see any particles floating around in the air, or smell or feel anything!”
“You wouldn’t,” said Scott. “Asbestos, when disturbed, breaks up into microscopic shards you can’t see, smell, feel, taste, or hear. But with prolonged exposure, those shards can impale themselves in your lungs and cause incurable diseases like mesothelioma.”
“Shards!” exclaimed Bill’s wife. “In our air!”
“Still,” said Bill, “it was such a little fire.”
“Yes, but aren’t you forgetting the flood? And your nephew?” said Bill’s wife.
“What about the nephew and the flood?” asked Scott.
“Well, it’s winter, and we did have a pipe burst after that last thaw. It flooded the basement and destroyed a bunch of floor tiles and drywall,” admitted Bill.
“Uh huh,” said Scott, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
“And since we already had a mess down there, I asked my nephew to do a little remodeling. He’s pretty handy,” Bill said. “But when he took out a couple of the damaged walls and piled up the damaged tiles, man, we had a major dust cloud in here that we only got rid of a couple days ago.”
“I see,” said Scott. “That drywall, those floor tiles, and even the pipe insulation likely contained asbestos. And that dust cloud is probably what spread those shards throughout the air in your home.”
“Shards!” said Bill’s wife again.
“No kidding,” Bill said quietly.
“You’re wise to have called me,” said Scott. “Now you need to get in touch with your new friends at Asbestos Abatement, Inc. They’ll arrive in their space suits with their state-of-the-art equipment, and they’ll keep at it until your home is once again safe and asbestos free.
There are several ways asbestos shards can get into your air. But there’s only one way to solve the problem, and that’s by conducting a professional abatement. It will probably cost less than you think, and certainly be worthwhile when you consider the human (and medical) costs of NOT abating. If you know anyone who might have airborne asbestos, have them get their place tested and then give us a call. You’ll thank yourself!
