Hi... I've been reading about asbestos and have really become worried now. I lived in an apartment in Argentina for about 4 years. The neighbors living above were demolishing pretty much everything in the apartment... like both tiles, complete bathroom, and kitchen... the building was from the 50s I think. In our hallway, there wasn't a regular closed and fully insulated ceiling but rather a ceiling that looked like it was made of fiberglass... but hmm now it strikes me that it could have been asbestos in it too (a ceiling we later removed). Anyway, since we lived below and the ceiling was open on the sides, dust particles from the neighbor's demolition and renovation came in. On the black dresser we had there in the hallway, I remember there were like small shiny thin threads of light that fell down every day... I wondered what it was. Could it have been asbestos? Are asbestos fibers visible? Now I'm all paranoid since we lived there while the neighbors upstairs didn't during the renovation which went on for about 2 years. I've lived through that, and I still have some clothes from when I lived there, and now I have a little baby here in Sweden... Can asbestos fibers remain in the old clothes after such a long time???? And if there was asbestos in the neighbor's place, does it mean I will get sick???? I'm incredibly worried now and can't undo this. I asked my then father-in-law if he knew if there was asbestos in the building or not but he said no, there shouldn't be... but I remember they mostly looked at me and thought I was overreacting. They aren't as aware of this stuff as we are here.
Member
· Västernorrland
· 12 029 posts
Done is done. Nothing you need to worry about today. Even if it was asbestos, the amounts are so small that they can't compare to the levels you already breathe in the normal air.
What, still breathing in the regular air???? It could still be quite concentrated if you think about us living below and it has then dusted down to us and into our apartment. I never saw those who performed the renovation and tore down all the old stuff wearing protective masks... but they probably didn't even know what asbestos is, unfortunately. But do you know if asbestos fibers can be seen with the naked eye? Now I'm worried about secondary illnesses and get anxiety just thinking about it. Especially worried about lung cancer since you can get it from asbestos.
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· Västernorrland
· 12 029 posts
With the right measurement methods, you can find most things that exist on Earth also in the air you breathe. Asbestos is still a natural product, although dangerous to inhale over long periods. It is not something radioactive that makes you sick from the smallest particle. Every person has probably handled asbestos without knowing it in one way or another in their life.
You can also get lung cancer from car exhaust.........
You can also get lung cancer from car exhaust.........
So you really weren't that worried? Let's hope this doesn't lead to anything serious. As mentioned, you can't undo what's already done. But do you think I need to throw away all the clothes from there? The fibers should reasonably have already fallen off if they've been in a suitcase, used, and some washed. I started reading up on asbestos this weekend since I live in a 60s apartment where one windowsill is broken in the middle and in another room it has been torn from the wall near the window frame or whatever you call it....a piece has come off and crumbs that I vacuumed up...Looks porous almost like mortar...that's when I thought about asbestos and spent the whole weekend reading about where it is found and so on, and then I started worrying about the neighbor's renovation in Argentina. This is what the broken windowsill looks like. I've just read that it's common to find asbestos in windowsills from the 60s.
Exactly. And smoking. So avoid smoking. Though there are of course 100 reasons to avoid it beyond worrying about asbestos.S Stefan1972 said:
Member
· Västernorrland
· 12 029 posts
So I take your concern seriously, but for many people, the worry becomes more dangerous than the potential risk the asbestos might have posed. It’s not like you get sick from asbestos from just one particle. That's not how it works. You don't need to throw anything away and you don't need to do anything. Just continue living and let it go. You probably don't need to think about the windowsill at all. The windowsills that contained asbestos are usually black.
You have good reason to be concerned. On the other hand, there is nothing you can do about what has already been done. The only thing you can do is to be very careful with your lungs in the future. Avoid tobacco, diesel fumes, and stone dust.
When someone in the industry has been exposed to some mishap and ingested a lot of asbestos, they are usually sent for a lung X-ray and examination to determine how bad it is. If it is bad, they typically undergo regular examinations for the rest of their lives to detect potential cancer in time. If you're worried, maybe you can have your lungs examined.
Once you've done everything you can, you just have to take the rest as it is.
When someone in the industry has been exposed to some mishap and ingested a lot of asbestos, they are usually sent for a lung X-ray and examination to determine how bad it is. If it is bad, they typically undergo regular examinations for the rest of their lives to detect potential cancer in time. If you're worried, maybe you can have your lungs examined.
Once you've done everything you can, you just have to take the rest as it is.
One should initially be clear that those who HAVE been affected by asbestos-related injuries are mainly people who worked for years in industries with asbestos. They could stand and saw eternit all day long (asbestos-containing cement boards), in clouds of asbestos dust, without any kind of protective equipment.
In that group, a high proportion has been found to have certain specific cancer forms that almost exclusively affect asbestos workers. But they have, for a prolonged time, ingested doses millions of times higher than what you might have been exposed to living next door to a renovation. Hundreds of thousands of homes with asbestos-containing materials have been renovated here in Sweden, often without any special protective measures. IF there was a measurable risk of being near such a renovation, then there would be many cases of these specific cancer forms among "ordinary people" who have no history of working with asbestos.
The reason why efforts are made to keep exposure as low as possible for the entire population is that, theoretically, even very low exposure is sufficient to become ill, so it is good to avoid exposure. However, the likelihood of being affected after low, or even high exposure for a shorter period, is so incredibly small that one would have to search for that "unlikely case" across the entire population of a continent, where one might find isolated cases without any history of working with asbestos, or other prolonged high exposure.
But even in some of these sporadic cases, there is likely high exposure in the history, which is just not detected, such as a person who stood daily waiting for the bus outside a ventilation exhaust from an eternit factory 30 years ago.
In that group, a high proportion has been found to have certain specific cancer forms that almost exclusively affect asbestos workers. But they have, for a prolonged time, ingested doses millions of times higher than what you might have been exposed to living next door to a renovation. Hundreds of thousands of homes with asbestos-containing materials have been renovated here in Sweden, often without any special protective measures. IF there was a measurable risk of being near such a renovation, then there would be many cases of these specific cancer forms among "ordinary people" who have no history of working with asbestos.
The reason why efforts are made to keep exposure as low as possible for the entire population is that, theoretically, even very low exposure is sufficient to become ill, so it is good to avoid exposure. However, the likelihood of being affected after low, or even high exposure for a shorter period, is so incredibly small that one would have to search for that "unlikely case" across the entire population of a continent, where one might find isolated cases without any history of working with asbestos, or other prolonged high exposure.
But even in some of these sporadic cases, there is likely high exposure in the history, which is just not detected, such as a person who stood daily waiting for the bus outside a ventilation exhaust from an eternit factory 30 years ago.
It's not quite that simple.
Grandmother's brother died from asbestos cancer. He had been an architect who spent most of his time in an architectural office, but apparently the asbestos he was exposed to during site visits was enough to kill him many years later. A year or two ago, I saw statistics showing that asbestos-related cancer is increasing in Sweden because a younger generation of renovators is not protecting themselves.
Like so much else in life, it's a statistical risk. Some people react by convincing themselves that it won't affect them and that it's almost harmless anyway. Others get worked up and become hysterically paranoid. The truth is somewhere in between.
Grandmother's brother died from asbestos cancer. He had been an architect who spent most of his time in an architectural office, but apparently the asbestos he was exposed to during site visits was enough to kill him many years later. A year or two ago, I saw statistics showing that asbestos-related cancer is increasing in Sweden because a younger generation of renovators is not protecting themselves.
Like so much else in life, it's a statistical risk. Some people react by convincing themselves that it won't affect them and that it's almost harmless anyway. Others get worked up and become hysterically paranoid. The truth is somewhere in between.
Asking the question here with a bunch of happy amateurs who have opinions on both sides might not be the best way to ease your worries.
Instead, read the facts, e.g. https://www.av.se/produktion-industri-och-logistik/asbest/huvudsakliga-risker-med-asbest/
Contact a doctor if you think you have developed any illness!
Don't listen to all the "opinionated" people here!
Instead, read the facts, e.g. https://www.av.se/produktion-industri-och-logistik/asbest/huvudsakliga-risker-med-asbest/
Contact a doctor if you think you have developed any illness!
Don't listen to all the "opinionated" people here!