Dealing with asbestos on your property

The Health & Safety Executive claim it to be the greatest single cause of work deaths in the UK, and according to the British Medical Journal it kills more than 3,000 people in Britain each year. With a billing like this there’s little doubt that asbestos is something not to be trifled with. Since the introduction of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006, the government agrees. Employers who handle the substance in any one of its forms are now required by law to hold a special licence that permits them to work with asbestos.

 

The dangers of asbestos are, of course, nothing new. Blue and brown asbestos were banned from use in the UK during 1985. This was followed sometime later by a ban on the use of white asbestos in 1999. The 2006 regulations continue to enforce these bans, and bring a new level of control to the people who work with asbestos in a professional capacity – plumbers, electricians, demolition contractors and asbestos removal firms among them.

 

With the asbestos bans having been firmly in place for several years now, it might seem peculiar to some that new regulations as recent as last year are needed at all. While it could be viewed in some quarters as health and safety ‘gone mad’, the government view it as an apt precaution. The problem is, and has always been to be honest, that many thousands of properties across Britain still have asbestos in them. These are generally properties built between the 1950s and the early 1980s when the building trade used asbestos extensively in materials ranging from concrete and bricks to bath panels and pipe lagging.

 

Why was asbestos used? The answer is in the material’s unique properties. Asbestos you see, when mixed in with a host material, provides that material with greater rigidity and improved fire resistance. Only in the late 1970s did it emerge that asbestos used in this way could be detrimental to our health.

 

Health impacts of asbestos

Buildings with asbestos in them – so long as the asbestos remains undisturbed – are not a health hazard. The problem comes when people have work done to their homes, or turn their hands to a spot of DIY. Disturbing the material can release asbestos dust and fibres into the air, potentially bringing a whole host of health issues home to roost.

Inhaled asbestos fibres for example lodge in the lungs and produce scarring. Known as asbestosis the scarring – a form of fibrosis - causes the lungs to shrink, making it difficult to breathe. Asbestos exposure also brings about pleural thickening of the lung – a condition that restricts the expansion of the lungs during the breathing process. When combined with asbestosis, sufferers find it almost impossible to breathe normally.

 

But, without a doubt, the most serious side effect of asbestos dust and fibre exposure is cancer. There are two forms – mesothelioma and lung cancer.

 

Mesothelioma begins as a malignant tumour in the pleura membrane that surrounds the lung and is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos. Once developed the prognosis is not good. Statistics show that around 75% of people who contract the cancer die within a year. Long-term, very few live on.

 

As for lung cancer, the risk of contracting the disease is greatly heightened by prolonged and heavy exposure to asbestos dust. When combined with smoking the risk becomes phenomenally high. However, for smokers who have been heavily exposed to asbestos but then stop smoking, the risk decreases significantly.

 

Asbestos in your home

 

If you discover asbestos in your home the first rule is not to panic. If it remains undisturbed or is covered by a membrane, such as a non-permeable paint, it won’t be a health hazard. The main problem comes if you sand, drill or saw through it as you risk releasing asbestos dust and fibres into the air that could affect your health. Therefore, avoid attempting to remove and dispose of asbestos yourself. It is much safer to bring in a qualified and trained professional rather than run the risk of exposing yourself and your family to a potentially very hazardous substance.

 

Your best course of action then is to first contact your local authority and request an asbestos inspection. The council inspector will be able to identify if asbestos is present and the risk it poses to you. Once identified the council will advise on how to have the asbestos safely removed from your property. You can then make the arrangements with a specialist contractor, leaving you free to get on with your life.