Hello, my partner and I have for many years dreamed of buying a townhouse in a specific area.
The townhouses were built in the mid-70s and therefore contain asbestos. This has also been confirmed by those who already live in the area.
There should be asbestos in:
- In the floor
- Tile joints
- Vinyl flooring & carpet on stairs
- Asbestos boards under the balcony
We are considering buying a renovated townhouse.
My question is: How dangerous is asbestos really?
The internet says it is carcinogenic. Is this true even if you are not renovating?
How would you reason?
The townhouses were built in the mid-70s and therefore contain asbestos. This has also been confirmed by those who already live in the area.
There should be asbestos in:
- In the floor
- Tile joints
- Vinyl flooring & carpet on stairs
- Asbestos boards under the balcony
We are considering buying a renovated townhouse.
My question is: How dangerous is asbestos really?
The internet says it is carcinogenic. Is this true even if you are not renovating?
How would you reason?
Only dangerous if the material is processed so that the fibers end up in the lungs.
It is completely harmless if you don't tear or process it. Even then, it is practically harmless for isolated exposures, but one should have respect and use protective equipment even as a DIYer.
The people who primarily suffered from asbestos-related injuries worked in asbestos cement factories (asbestos cement contains asbestos) and worked all day long, for years, in places filled with asbestos fibers in the air. They stood and cut manufactured plates and asbestos cement pipes, completely without protective equipment. In that category, many have been affected.
Then there are regular construction workers who were sporadically exposed on construction sites, but often over many years. A considerable number have been found affected, but it's not like builders from that time died in large numbers due to asbestos.
Then there's a category with indirect exposure, e.g., wives of the workers in the asbestos cement factories who handled work clothes.
Another category is car mechanics; there was asbestos in brake linings on cars until the '80s. There aren't many there, but it's measurable.
Beyond this, I saw a study from England, where they have about 1 case a year where someone suffers from asbestos-related cancer, without any successful tracing to a direct or indirect source, aside from the approximately 50 cases annually that have been exposed to long-term heavy exposure. So, it is unknown if that one person (1 in about 60 million) has been exposed to high concentrations of asbestos, it might be someone who waited for the bus daily outside an asbestos cement factory, or something else difficult to trace.
But among all these approximately 60 million who have not been affected, there are many (millions) who have worked with asbestos in much higher exposure levels than you as a private individual would be exposed to if you tore down tile with asbestos joints one day in your life. And if you ensure to use a (good) protective mask that one time, the exposure becomes virtually zero. But as an amateur, there's a risk, e.g., of removing the mask before taking off dusty clothes, so a little exposure probably occurs for many amateurs, even if one is careful.
Asbestos is naturally present in the air we breathe in low doses. A single large exposure has the same effect as if you get unusually old and thus inhale natural asbestos for a few more years than the average person.
The people who primarily suffered from asbestos-related injuries worked in asbestos cement factories (asbestos cement contains asbestos) and worked all day long, for years, in places filled with asbestos fibers in the air. They stood and cut manufactured plates and asbestos cement pipes, completely without protective equipment. In that category, many have been affected.
Then there are regular construction workers who were sporadically exposed on construction sites, but often over many years. A considerable number have been found affected, but it's not like builders from that time died in large numbers due to asbestos.
Then there's a category with indirect exposure, e.g., wives of the workers in the asbestos cement factories who handled work clothes.
Another category is car mechanics; there was asbestos in brake linings on cars until the '80s. There aren't many there, but it's measurable.
Beyond this, I saw a study from England, where they have about 1 case a year where someone suffers from asbestos-related cancer, without any successful tracing to a direct or indirect source, aside from the approximately 50 cases annually that have been exposed to long-term heavy exposure. So, it is unknown if that one person (1 in about 60 million) has been exposed to high concentrations of asbestos, it might be someone who waited for the bus daily outside an asbestos cement factory, or something else difficult to trace.
But among all these approximately 60 million who have not been affected, there are many (millions) who have worked with asbestos in much higher exposure levels than you as a private individual would be exposed to if you tore down tile with asbestos joints one day in your life. And if you ensure to use a (good) protective mask that one time, the exposure becomes virtually zero. But as an amateur, there's a risk, e.g., of removing the mask before taking off dusty clothes, so a little exposure probably occurs for many amateurs, even if one is careful.
Asbestos is naturally present in the air we breathe in low doses. A single large exposure has the same effect as if you get unusually old and thus inhale natural asbestos for a few more years than the average person.