“What’s Asbestos,” You Ask?

It’s Abundant.  It’s Cheap.  It’s Totally Legal.  And It’s Totally Deadly

We might as well state the obvious: You can argue about the possible causes, and everyone seems to have an opinion, but the fact is that there are shortages affecting us today that are unlike anything we’ve seen in some time.

Everything from your favorite brand of dish soap to your favorite meal at the local restaurant might be “out of stock” these days.  I’ve even heard some people are having a hard time finding their favorite pudding.

(Oh, NO!  Not the pudding!  Take my spleen… but not my pudding!)

But you know what we still have plenty of?  Unfortunately?  You guessed it: Cable news shows.

Oh, wait, what I meant to say is that we still have plenty of asbestos.  Which is at least as unfortunate a plague as even the worst of the cable news shows.

Yes, even though it’s illegal to produce asbestos in the United States, it’s still being imported into our country, ton after ugly ton.

And that’s not good.

Asbestos Is a Rock…

Some people don’t really have a clear understanding of what asbestos is.  They’ve heard it’s bad (maybe by reading this feature), but some folks don’t know what’s so bad about it..

Euphemistically, asbestos is referred to as a “mineral” – this means it’s a rock.  And since it’s cheap and abundant (and flame resistant), manufacturers use it to produce everything from pipe insulation, to ceiling and floor tiles, to attic insulation, to jewelry.

(Yes, jewelry.  And not the good, blingy kind.)

So there it is, all around you.  In the attic, in the basement, in the crawl space, and wrapped gaudily around your pre-teen daughter.  And as long as it stays undisturbed, you’re okay.

But asbestos doesn’t always stay “undisturbed!”

… And It Can Basically Kill You

When disaster strikes, in the form of a burst pipe, a basement flood, a house fire (even a small one), or a nephew who got the home improvement gig at your place because he works for sandwiches but ended up botching the project in a messy and catastrophic manner… that asbestos definitely becomes “disturbed.”

This means the rock breaks up into microscopic little shards which pollute the air and settle into everything soft on the property, including your keepsake wedding gown and your favorite quilt.

Oh, and your lungs.

Inhale enough of it, and asbestos is likely to give you mesothelioma or asbestosis – nasty diseases from which you can’t recover.

And since it’s microscopic in its airborne state, you can’t see it coming.  You also can’t hear it, feel it, taste it, smell it, or even intuitively detect its evil psychic energy.

Pretty ugly, huh?

Ugly death from asbestos poisoning does not have to be your fate.  You can get your property professionally tested, and your asbestos problem abated, for far less than you might imagine.  (That said, I can’t imagine what you might imagine.)  And it certainly costs less than the medical bills you’ll get from asbestos-caused diseases.  After which you die anyway.  So give us a call!  Cheers!