What You Should Know About Asbestos

To many homeowners, asbestos is a word shrouded in mystery – and a mineral that one must keep out of the house at all costs. Why? Well, if you don’t exactly know the answer, then here’s a quick primer on asbestos.

Asbestos is a mineral fiber commonly used in construction materials and household products. The reason why it’s used in the first place is because asbestos can serve as a fire-retardant with excellent insulation qualities against heat and electricity. Asbestos also does not easily degrade by natural processes, making it popular for use in a wide variety of forms: spun into a yarn, woven into cloth, braided into rope, or built into construction materials and structures like fire-retardant coatings, concrete, brick, pipes, fireplace cement, gaskets, insulated pipes, ceilings, drywall, flooring, roofing shingles, and lawn furniture, among many others.

Asbestos can also be found in common household and consumer products. These include caulk, textured and latex paints, flame-resistant aprons, irons and ironing boards, and even clay pots. From the category of products above, it is easy to see that asbestos’ natural properties are useful for strengthening other materials, and for increasing their thermal resistance qualities. Friction products like automobile clutch, brakes, and transmission parts may also contain asbestos.

Overexposure to asbestos-containing products can cause significant health problems, particularly lung disease. Once asbestos breaks into small fibers – small enough not to be seen by the naked eye – it exposes people to the risk of inhaling these fibers, which can become lodged in the lungs and cause lung scarring, impairment, lung cavities, or even lung cancer. Inhaling high concentrations of these asbestos fibers over a long period of time can also cause diseases like asbestos warts, pleural plaques, asbestosis (a non-cancer lung disease), and mesothelioma. While short-term exposure to a small amount of asbestos is unlikely to cause any serious health risk, it’s still a huge concern for homeowners with asbestos-containing products at home.

But there’s no need to panic, there’s no need to destroy and rip away those asbestos-containing products. In fact, it would be so much safer to leave these undisturbed, as breaking asbestos down can release their fibers into the air. If some asbestos-containing material is damaged, keep yourself and your children away from the area. For proper disposal, it is best to consult green contractors like Greenwerks.

Keep Reading and Check out these Articles:

1. GreenWerks is opening its doors
2. Green Product Certifications
3. Understanding Asbestos
4. How to Green Your Bedroom
5. Asbestos Removal – Better Leave It to the Experts