Industry News

Think Asbestos Poisoning Can’t Happen To You?

… You Can’t See, Smell, Feel, Or Sense It In Any Way

Here are a few things most of us think “can’t happen to me:”

  • Getting struck by lightning,
  • Getting a hole-in-one on the golf course,
  • Getting a hole-in-one, and then getting struck by lightning,
  • Winning the lotto,
  • Winning the lotto, getting a hole-in-one, and getting struck by lightning the same day, and
  • Succumbing to incurable lung cancer due to asbestos poisoning.

And while we think they won’t happen to us personally, all of these things have, in fact, happened to other people.  As far as you know.

I wouldn’t presume to hold forth on the causes of lotto winnings, golf success, or lightning.  But I know a lot about how asbestos poisoning can happen to you.  So let’s concentrate on that.

For one thing, many people don’t realize that you can’t detect asbestos in the air with any of your five senses.  When asbestos is in your air, it’s comprised of microscopic little shards you can’t see, smell, hear, taste, or feel.

Even your sixth sense is likely to play tricks on you with regard to asbestos poisoning.

So how might asbestos get into your air, you might ask?  And even if you might not ask, I’ll tell you.

See, asbestos is basically a rock.  As such, it’s a fire retardant, so a century ago manufacturers started using it in everything from blankets to walls.  Then, about half a century ago, people started to realize that, when “disturbed,” the asbestos rock breaks up into little microscopic airborne fibers.

This is a problem, because those fibers can and will (with enough exposure) embed themselves in the tissue of your lungs.  This causes mesothelioma lung cancer, for which there is no cure.

So asbestos was outlawed in the U.S. for about a hot minute, a few decades ago, until restrictions were lifted on importing asbestos-containing materials.  Today, tons of the ugly stuff arrive on our shores each year, incorporated into everything from talcum powder and fake jewelry (really!) to wall boards and pipe insulation.

Asbestos is all around us

So if the asbestos in your home is disturbed, by something as simple as a small house fire, a plumbing leak, a bad DIY project, or a talcum-involved incident with your mischievous children, you could have life-threatening asbestos in your air.

The reasons people don’t think asbestos poisoning can happen to them include:

  • They think asbestos is still illegal, and
  • They think they’d be able to see, smell, or feel asbestos in the air.

Neither of these things is true.  So it COULD happen to YOU and your family.

Never fear, though!  It costs less than you think to get your home professionally tested for asbestos, and if there’s a problem, it probably costs less than you think to fix it.

Your friends at Asbestos Abatement, Inc. can solve your asbestos problem, if you have one.  It’s true: You breathe much easier when you know you’re not breathing cancer-causing asbestos!  And getting that kind of peace-of-mind is another thing that could happen to you.