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Hello!
We live in the countryside, and our neighbor has an outbuilding with an asbestos roof. Today, when I was about to bring in our 14-month-old son from his nap, I saw the neighbor was taking down the asbestos roof! I immediately ran inside with our son and closed all doors and windows. The neighbor's house is about 80 meters from where my son was sleeping and about 25 meters from our house.
I called him, and he said they're removing the tiles one by one and sliding them down the battens onto a pallet they've lifted with a tractor at the bottom of the roof. He said some break in the middle, but otherwise, they're taking them down whole. However, he's just placing them openly on a pallet in the yard until he disposes of them instead of putting them in plastic bags. I asked him to at least spray water on the roof while removing the tiles, but I haven't checked if he's doing this.
Of course, he says there's no dust, but I know it always dusts when you demolish, so it's clear there's dust, even if not nearly as much as when cutting asbestos, for instance. He claims there's more dust from the road, which is probably true, but the road is made of gravel, not asbestos! I know he can't possibly know how much dust he's releasing when removing the tiles. If the wind was blowing from our house, it would be less dangerous, but the wind direction is impossible to figure out.
For myself, I'm not particularly worried, but our little son was outside sleeping and was also outside the day before when they were tearing down the roof (without me knowing).
How dangerous can this be?! I understand it's impossible to answer how much my son has inhaled, but it would be reassuring if someone knows more about this. How long does asbestos dust remain in the air, i.e., when can we go out again? Could it blow in through natural ventilation in windows and doors?
Should we evacuate the house until he's finished? Risking my son's health because a 74-year-old man is careless with asbestos is NOT an option!
We live in the countryside, and our neighbor has an outbuilding with an asbestos roof. Today, when I was about to bring in our 14-month-old son from his nap, I saw the neighbor was taking down the asbestos roof! I immediately ran inside with our son and closed all doors and windows. The neighbor's house is about 80 meters from where my son was sleeping and about 25 meters from our house.
I called him, and he said they're removing the tiles one by one and sliding them down the battens onto a pallet they've lifted with a tractor at the bottom of the roof. He said some break in the middle, but otherwise, they're taking them down whole. However, he's just placing them openly on a pallet in the yard until he disposes of them instead of putting them in plastic bags. I asked him to at least spray water on the roof while removing the tiles, but I haven't checked if he's doing this.
Of course, he says there's no dust, but I know it always dusts when you demolish, so it's clear there's dust, even if not nearly as much as when cutting asbestos, for instance. He claims there's more dust from the road, which is probably true, but the road is made of gravel, not asbestos! I know he can't possibly know how much dust he's releasing when removing the tiles. If the wind was blowing from our house, it would be less dangerous, but the wind direction is impossible to figure out.
For myself, I'm not particularly worried, but our little son was outside sleeping and was also outside the day before when they were tearing down the roof (without me knowing).
How dangerous can this be?! I understand it's impossible to answer how much my son has inhaled, but it would be reassuring if someone knows more about this. How long does asbestos dust remain in the air, i.e., when can we go out again? Could it blow in through natural ventilation in windows and doors?
Should we evacuate the house until he's finished? Risking my son's health because a 74-year-old man is careless with asbestos is NOT an option!
Member
· Västernorrland
· 12 029 posts
I don't think you need to worry considering there is a certain amount of asbestos particles in the air naturally. As long as they don't grind the tiles into fine dust, their demolition is unlikely to affect you significantly. (and not your kid either)
F
fredrik.johansson
Homeowner
· Skåne
· 1 770 posts
fredrik.johansson
Homeowner
- Skåne
- 1,770 posts
Asbestos fibers are already present in the air, whether or not the neighbor is tearing down something. Even more in the city than in the countryside, of course.
80 meters outdoors sounds like a very reassuring distance. There are a lot of cubic meters of air to dilute any potential fibers between you and the neighbor. I wouldn't be worried at all. Then you don't have to walk past the neighbor's property with the child while the material is there if that makes you more comfortable, but that shouldn't be a problem at all either.
80 meters outdoors sounds like a very reassuring distance. There are a lot of cubic meters of air to dilute any potential fibers between you and the neighbor. I wouldn't be worried at all. Then you don't have to walk past the neighbor's property with the child while the material is there if that makes you more comfortable, but that shouldn't be a problem at all either.
Out here, the risk isn't too great, and the distance seems to be quite large anyway.
It's good that you're closing the ventilation, even though I don't think many fibers would find their way in to you.
Just think that it's good he's removing it. It would be much worse if the house were to catch fire. Then the asbestos sheets explode, and the asbestos fibers spread with the smoke throughout the area. Then you could get much more asbestos into the house and into the garden.
It's good that you're closing the ventilation, even though I don't think many fibers would find their way in to you.
Just think that it's good he's removing it. It would be much worse if the house were to catch fire. Then the asbestos sheets explode, and the asbestos fibers spread with the smoke throughout the area. Then you could get much more asbestos into the house and into the garden.
I actually wonder how natural it is that we have some asbestos in the air. It somehow feels reasonable that it is largely a consequence of asbestos mining and usageS Stefan1972 said:
Member
· Västernorrland
· 12 029 posts
It's a natural mineral, so it would be quite strange if you couldn't find traces of it in the air. It's not in such quantities that you can see it with a magnifying glass, of course........harry73 said:
Many unfortunately believe that asbestos is something we get from Mars, roughly, and that it's a foreign material in our world.
An American study, but it is probably applicable worldwide:
"As a result of human use, asbestos fibers are now widely dispersed in the environment. Background levels in the air are extremely low, about 0.0001 fibers/cc [Holland and Smith 2003].
Asbestos is also present in the environment naturally, primarily in underground rock.
"As a result of human use, asbestos fibers are now widely dispersed in the environment. Background levels in the air are extremely low, about 0.0001 fibers/cc [Holland and Smith 2003].
Asbestos is also present in the environment naturally, primarily in underground rock.
- In most areas asbestos fibers are not released into the air because the rock is too deep to be disturbed easily.
- In some areas, such as parts of California, Virginia, and New Jersey (and across the globe in Turkey and Corsica) where asbestos-bearing rock is close enough to the surface that construction and other human activities can disturb it, high concentrations of asbestos fibers can be released into the air [ATSDR 2001a; Constantolopoulos 2008; Hasanoglu et al. 2003; Luo et al. 2003]"
Yes, it is a natural material, and where it surfaces it will naturally erode away and can also end up in the air, but the colossal mining we had in the past 100 years (and we are still mining) + all processing as well as wear or erosion of asbestos products should be greater than the natural component. If rocks containing asbestos can release asbestos fibers into the air, then asbestos roofs should also be able to do so, and there you have a much larger exposed surface.S Stefan1972 said:
Edit: I see my question has already been answered in the above post
Your son's health is at risk all the time. Read the contents of the food he eats, and you will see. He also rides in a car, is near water, stairs, etc. The dangers are everywhere. The man, however, is an exception. Because there is no danger there. So, stop worrying about ghosts, and enjoy the nice weather instead.G greenhouse said:
Staffan
As mentioned, nothing to worry about.
Firstly, very few fibers are released at all when taking down an asbestos roof, even if some tiles crack. The fibers that are released quickly disperse in the air, resulting in a concentration a few meters away that is too low to measure. At a distance of 80 meters, it becomes even more impossible to detect any fibers beyond those that naturally exist in the air.
The groups where a link between asbestos and a certain type of cancer has been found are those who worked in asbestos factories and similar places. They have been sawing asbestos, embedded in a fog of asbestos fibers, all day, year after year. Completely without protective equipment. In that group, there has been a very high mortality rate from asbestos-related diseases.
The reason to be cautious even with low doses is that theoretically, you can get cancer from a single asbestos fiber. But the probability is so low that you would have to search for the case across the entire total of humanity that has ever lived on earth, and will live here until the sun collapses. So you should avoid grinding down asbestos in the garden compost shredder, even though you wouldn't get sick from it either.
Firstly, very few fibers are released at all when taking down an asbestos roof, even if some tiles crack. The fibers that are released quickly disperse in the air, resulting in a concentration a few meters away that is too low to measure. At a distance of 80 meters, it becomes even more impossible to detect any fibers beyond those that naturally exist in the air.
The groups where a link between asbestos and a certain type of cancer has been found are those who worked in asbestos factories and similar places. They have been sawing asbestos, embedded in a fog of asbestos fibers, all day, year after year. Completely without protective equipment. In that group, there has been a very high mortality rate from asbestos-related diseases.
The reason to be cautious even with low doses is that theoretically, you can get cancer from a single asbestos fiber. But the probability is so low that you would have to search for the case across the entire total of humanity that has ever lived on earth, and will live here until the sun collapses. So you should avoid grinding down asbestos in the garden compost shredder, even though you wouldn't get sick from it either.
Hello and thank you for the quick answers. I also think that 80 meters should create a lot of air per asbestos fiber, so to speak.
That sounds promising. But comparing asbestos to baby food or a gravel road is just outright wrong and uninformed. As far as I know, baby food is legal and so is a gravel road. Asbestos is banned because it causes serious diseases for those who inhale it (to varying degrees). The old man who is 74 won't die from it, but my son and I are probably young enough to potentially suffer the consequences in 20 years. However, I understand the thought that there are other risks than asbestos. Living near a heavily trafficked road is also likely very bad for the lungs, as is smoking and riding a motorcycle at 300km/h.
Unfortunately, the fibers and dust are so small that they cannot be seen. It would be interesting to hear opinions from an asbestos remover or someone who has dismantled eternit themselves. It all depends, of course, on the concentration in the air, which in turn depends on how much is released during the handling of asbestos. That fibers are released is 100% certain as some of the tiles have broken.
That sounds promising. But comparing asbestos to baby food or a gravel road is just outright wrong and uninformed. As far as I know, baby food is legal and so is a gravel road. Asbestos is banned because it causes serious diseases for those who inhale it (to varying degrees). The old man who is 74 won't die from it, but my son and I are probably young enough to potentially suffer the consequences in 20 years. However, I understand the thought that there are other risks than asbestos. Living near a heavily trafficked road is also likely very bad for the lungs, as is smoking and riding a motorcycle at 300km/h.
Unfortunately, the fibers and dust are so small that they cannot be seen. It would be interesting to hear opinions from an asbestos remover or someone who has dismantled eternit themselves. It all depends, of course, on the concentration in the air, which in turn depends on how much is released during the handling of asbestos. That fibers are released is 100% certain as some of the tiles have broken.
The roof tiles are located outdoors, which means they are not as dry as they would be if they were part of a ceiling indoors. A wet/damp fiber does not travel very far, if it travels at all. A tile breaking is likely largely due to it already having a crack after being installed for a long time. A crack with few loose fibers since rain and snow have already removed them. So if there are any loose fibers during the demolition, they won't travel far but will end up around the demolition site.