Identifying asbestos

[PGrim]

You are definitely being paranoid. I'm not saying sprinkle it on your cornflakes but the type of asbestos you are talking about is basically harmless. Even the HSE agree - they now treat it like any construction dust and fibre - and they're even more paranoid than you. I think you are mistaking it for other types of asbestos that are really nasty - pipe insulation and soft fibrous types. The stuff you are talking about is a different type of fibre and not the same at all.

What are the soft fibrous types? The only reason is I have heard that asbestos board has been used and found before acting as bath panels (search google) and you can See images etc.

How do you tell the difference between AIB and cement as both contain it right?

 

[footprints]

[/QUOTE]
How do you tell the difference between AIB and cement as both contain it right?[/QUOTE]

Like all asbestos related questions the only correct answer is to have the material tested by a registered company.
http://www.arca.org.uk/

In practice you cannot as you 'aint got none to test

As a rule of thumb, AC (asbestos cement) is very hard and brittle, usually smooth on one side and dimpled on the other, the sort of stuff thousands of garage roofs have in corrugated form. If you break AC it tends to shatter into lumps and you can often see fibres sticking out still attached. AIB on the other hand is much softer, if you imagine AC as looking a bit like hardboard, AIB is usually more like that stuff they use for pin boards (but still a little bit harder than pin board) when broken it is more friable.
Again as a rule AC sheet is about 5mm thick while AIB (because it is softer) tends to be at least twice as thick.

I am a bit of a fusspot where asbestos is concerned, I lost a work mate to Mesothelioma so I don't take it lightly, but I really think you should stop worrying about your panel that was removed years ago.

 

[PGrim]

So it's quite easy to tell them apart then?

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. , did he work with asbestos?

Also do you know what they mean about fiber count in the air? They say it's like 0.01 per ? What does that mean? What we breathe in on each breath?

 

[endecotp]

So it's quite easy to tell them apart then?

Not six years after is was removed, no.

 

[footprints]

We both worked with it quite a lot in the 60's & 70's, he died a couple of years back, thankfully I'm still here so far!
I haven't the faintest about quantities in the air, but for your own sake do let it go, chances are the stress & worry you are having is more likely to do you harm than microscopic traces of asbestos in the air around us all ever will.

Best wishes

 

[Newboy]

Also do you know what they mean about fiber count in the air? They say it's like 0.01 per ? What does that mean? What we breathe in on each breath?

There is asbestos present in the air generally - hardly surprising when you think how widely used the stuff used to be.

The control limit is specified in Regulation 2 of CAR 2006 as 0.1 fibres per cubic centimetre - so for every 10 cc of air there is an "acceptable" 1 fibre of asbestos present. When you think that we inhale around 8 litres of air each minute = around 11,00 litres of air each day that might put the contamination of the environment into some context!

I've got a healthy respect for asbestos having known two people (maintenance fitters) who have both suffered from the effects of asbestos related diseases but put the risk into context and stop worrying about what might have been.

 

[PGrim]

That is interesting. So something like 1 asbestos fiber allowed per litre of air breathed?! I have read apparently we all breathe in every day naturally.

 

[jeds]

You have to appreciate that not all asbestos fibres are the same. Blue and Brown asbestos fibres are barbed - like a bee sting. If fibres get into your lungs and the barbs implant they are much more difficult to remove by coughing. Get enough of them and they sit and fester for years, and can eventually cause asbestos related diseases. Asbestos cement board is different for two reasons; the asbestos used is white asbestos, which is softer and not barbed and is therefore much more easily coughed out or washed out by natural lung fluids. Secondly the fibres are used in very small percentages - typically 2% - and are bound in the heavy cement matrix. So the bits tend to fall to the floor and don't float around on the air.