{"id":13449,"date":"2023-04-27T15:04:21","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T21:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asbestosclaims.law\/?post_type=blog&p=13449"},"modified":"2023-04-27T17:39:14","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T23:39:14","slug":"asbestos-and-indoor-air-pollution","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.asbestosclaims.law\/es\/asbestos-blog\/asbesto-y-contaminacion-del-aire-interior\/","title":{"rendered":"Asbestos and Indoor Air Pollution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Understanding the risks of indoor air polluted with asbestos fibers and what to do about it.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Health Impacts of Asbestos<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that was mined during the 19th<\/sup> and 20th<\/sup> century and used in around 3,000 products that had asbestos containing materials (ACM). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After enjoying a dream run, various health studies determined that exposure to asbestos<\/a> causes what are known as asbestos-related diseases (ARD). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way asbestos plays a role in the health of people exposed to asbestos is through inhalation or swallowing of asbestos fibers and dust. These fibers are microscopic in nature, invisible to the naked eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you may have been exposed to asbestos, speak with your healthcare provider about tests and screening to help detect the presence of asbestos fibers and <\/strong>asbestos-related diseases<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Why asbestos is bad for your health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Fibrous in nature, asbestos is made up of millions of flexible fibers and when these are damaged or disturbed, they float in the air and become the source of asbestos exposure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, when people are in the presence of asbestos fibers and dust floating in the air in an enclosed place like a home or a workplace, they run the risk of inhaling these fibers or swallowing them. Since they are so tiny (microscopic), people do not usually know that they have inhaled asbestos fibers or dust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American Lung Association notes that there is a risk that once inhaled, some asbestos fibers will never leave the body.<\/strong><\/strong>1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These asbestos fibers<\/a> lodge themselves in the lungs, residing there for a long time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their stay in the lungs causes irritation and scarring. Scar tissue is inflexible and can lead to problems in the respiratory system, which in turn causes health issues like emphysema, asthma, and asbestosis, pleural effusions, pleural plaques, pleuritis, diffuse pleural thickening, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), all non-cancerous diseases. The scarring can also lead to cancers, such as mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer in the lining of the lungs or abdomen. There are other cancers<\/a> too that affect other organs of the body like the lungs, ovaries and larynx.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Indoor Asbestos Pollution <\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Typically, people staying in a home or working in an occupational setting are exposed to asbestos fibers found in enclosed spaces like garages, laundry rooms, and family vehicles.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

These people run the risk of exposure to asbestos and consequently are potentially open to risk of asbestos related diseases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asbestos containing materials may also be found in many older products and buildings.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned earlier, ACMs were used in thousands of products<\/a>, including many products used in the construction industry, such as cement, plaster, floor tiles, roofing, piping, false ceilings, soundproof materials, plasterboards, and fireproofing. As such, homes built up to the 1980s contain numerous ACM products, offering scope for asbestos exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asbestos has no smell or taste and you may not know you\u2019re breathing or swallowing it.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One way to detect asbestos could be by its color. Asbestos can come in colors, such as brown, blue, dark green, yellow and white. But asbestos also does not have a distinct smell or taste, making it a substance that is very difficult to detect<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its natural form, asbestos will take on the smell of the products that it finally goes into. For instance, floor tiles, building materials and construction materials use ACMs in them and it is not easy to say whether they contain asbestos. The only way to find out is to do destructive testing. That means breaking a sample from the product and having it tested for asbestos fibers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to 1982, nearly every building was constructed with an asbestos-containing material of some kind.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One way of getting a good idea if a home or an office building has ACMs in them is to check the year of construction. For instance, buildings or homes built after the partial ban on asbestos was imposed in 1989 in the US<\/a> would perhaps have no asbestos in them. If a building or a home is built before 1989 and these structures are still inhabited even now, then it is bound to have ACMs in them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Asbestos Exposure in Homes and Workplaces<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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As described above, any asbestos fibers and dust inside a home or workplace is a source of asbestos exposure posing risk of contracting asbestos related diseases. Therefore, it is essential that the air people breathe in homes and workplace is rid of asbestos.<\/a> There are a few important steps to doing so:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Determine if the premises is likely to contain asbestos based on its age.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first is to determine if the place contains ACMs. If so, then people can check if the products with ACMs in them are damaged or disturbed. If not, then it is reasonable to assume that the air is free of asbestos fibers or dust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People must check for damages to these products, such as floor tiles, false ceilings, plaster on walls, piping, and other products periodically to eliminate danger from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look for damaged products containing asbestos<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The second way arises if people find damaged ACM products. This is when it can be dangerous if steps are not taken to rid the air of asbestos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing to know is that the government has charged some federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)<\/a> to oversee the use of asbestos in public places and the removal of asbestos according to norms set by it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

EPA Asbestos-Related Laws and EPA Asbestos Regulations<\/a> govern the removal of asbestos in the air. Specifically, the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA)<\/a> pertains to schools so that the school children do not face any risk from asbestos exposure.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is advisable to engage the services of an EPA approved asbestos removal expert to rid your place of asbestos. This is important because there are specific tests to be done to test the quality of air, which can only be done by certified experts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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How to Determine if Asbestos is in the Air?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Determining conclusively if there is asbestos floating in the air requires an asbestos air test. The government wants it to be done in a special way and has issued guidelines for the same. It also wants the test to be done by an independent licensed asbestos assessor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the air is found free of asbestos, the assessor would issue a clearance certificate that certifies that the air is free of asbestos. This certificate would be useful when people want to sell their property. The certificate confirms for the buyer that the premises tested negative for asbestos. It also offers some legal protection for sellers, who can show they did due diligence to determine if there was asbestos present before marketing the property.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Asbestos Air Test<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The asbestos air test<\/a> is a systematic assessment of dangers posed by asbestos in the air. The assessor would make a visual inspection of the place and determine if there is leakage of asbestos into the air. If the assessor finds no evidence it is possible that no test would be recommend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if the assessor finds evidence of asbestos leakage, the test would involve the use of a special filter and a sampling pump to draw samples of air from various areas within the place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asbestos fibers can be microscopic, and often an electron microscope is needed to see them.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since the fibers are microscopic, they can be seen through a microscope, which is done by qualified and authorized assessors who use special microscopes, such as electron microscopes to test the levels of asbestos in the air. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some tests that can be evaluated only in a specialized lab meant for the purpose. Two methods commonly used are Phase Contrast Microscopy (PCM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These experts can interpret the test results<\/a> as per settled norms to assess if the areas tested have dangerous levels of asbestos in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cost of Asbestos Testing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Because of the specialized nature of testing, the costs of testing<\/a> are determined by the complexity of the tests involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n