Asbestos in Your Home

As per the US EPA website http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/ashome.html , asbestos containing items can be found in the following items:

Most products made today do not contain asbestos. Those few products made which still contain asbestos that could be inhaled are required to be labeled as such. However, until the 1970s, many types of building products and insulation materials used in homes contained asbestos. Common products that might have contained asbestos in the past, and conditions which may release fibers, include:

• STEAM PIPES, BOILERS, and FURNACE DUCTS insulated with an asbestos blanket or asbestos paper tape. These materials may release asbestos fibers if damaged, repaired, or removed improperly.
• RESILIENT FLOOR TILES (vinyl asbestos, asphalt, and rubber), the backing on VINYL SHEET FLOORING, and ADHESIVES used for installing floor tile. Sanding tiles can release fibers. So may scraping or sanding the backing of sheet flooring during removal.
• CEMENT SHEET, MILLBOARD, and PAPER used as insulation around furnaces and woodburning stoves. Repairing or removing appliances may release asbestos fibers. So may cutting, tearing, sanding, drilling or sawing insulation.
• DOOR GASKETS in furnaces, wood stoves, and coal stoves. Worn seals can release asbestos fibers during use.
• SOUNDPROOFING OR DECORATIVE MATERIAL sprayed on walls and ceilings. Loose, crumbly, or water-damaged material may release fibers. So will sanding, drilling or scraping the material.
• PATCHING AND JOINT COMPOUNDS for walls and ceilings, and TEXTURED PAINTS. Sanding, scraping, or drilling these surfaces may release asbestos.
• ASBESTOS CEMENT ROOFING, SHINGLES, and SIDING. These products are not likely to release asbestos fibers unless sawed, drilled or cut.
• ARTIFICIAL ASHES AND EMBERS sold for use in gas-fired fireplaces. Also, other older household products such as FIREPROOF GLOVES, STOVE-TOP PADS, IRONING BOARD COVERS, and certain HAIRDRYERS.
• AUTOMOBILE BRAKE PADS AND LININGS, CLUTCH FACINGS, and GASKETS.

Source: http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/ashome.html

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Asbestos Information

Information on asbestos uses, health hazards, sources, cancer risks, physical proprties and more can be found at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website at http://www.epa.gov/ttnatw01/hlthef/asbestos.html

Some of the information on the site includes:

Hazard Summary-Created in April 1992; Revised in January 2000

Asbestos has been used in building materials, paper products, plastics, and other products. Exposure mainly occurs in indoor air where it may be released from these materials. Effects on the lung are a major health concern from asbestos, as chronic (long-term) exposure to asbestos in humans via inhalation can result in a lung disease termed asbestosis. Asbestosis is characterized by shortness of breath and cough and may lead to severe impairment of respiratory function. Cancer is also a major concern from asbestos exposure, as inhalation exposure can cause lung cancer and mesothelioma (a rare cancer of the thin membranes lining the abdominal cavity and surrounding internal organs), and possibly gastrointestinal cancers in humans. EPA has classified asbestos as a Group A, known human carcinogen.

For more informatio please go to USPEA website

Asbestos Facts as Per the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

As per the website for The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the following are Asbestos Facts:

• When asbestos fibers are inhaled, most fibers are expelled, but some can become lodged in the lungs and remain there throughout life. Fibers can accumulate and cause scarring and inflammation. Enough scarring and inflammation can affect breathing, leading to disease.
• People are more likely to experience asbestos-related disorders when they are exposed to high concentrations of asbestos, are exposed for longer periods of time, and/or are exposed more often.
• Inhaling longer, more durable asbestos fibers (such as tremolite and other amphiboles) contributes to the severity of asbestos-related disorders.
• Exposure to asbestos, including tremolite, can increase the likelihood of lung cancer, mesothelioma, and non-malignant lung conditions such as asbestosis (restricted use of the lungs due to retained asbestos fibers) and changes in the lung lining.
• Changes in the lining of the lungs (pleura) such as thickening, plaques, calcification, and fluid around the lungs (pleural effusion) may be early signs of asbestos exposure. These changes can affect breathing more than previously thought. Pleural effusion can be an early warning sign for mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lungs).
• Most cases of asbestosis or lung cancer in workers occurred 15 years or more after the person was first exposed to asbestos.
• Most cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed 30 years or more after the first exposure to asbestos.
• Mesothelioma has been diagnosed in asbestos workers, family members, and residents who live close to asbestos mines.
• Health effects from asbestos exposure may continue to progress even after exposure is stopped.
• Smoking or cigarette smoke, together with exposure to asbestos, greatly increases the likelihood of lung cancer. See Cigarette Smoking, Asbestos Exposure, and your Health.

Source: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/asbestos/asbestos/health_effects/index.html

The Asbestos Advisor PC Compliance Program

The Asbestos Advisor is an interactive compliance assistance tool. Once installed on your PC, it can interview you about buildings and worksites, and the kinds of tasks workers perform there. It will produce guidance on how the Asbestos standard may apply to those buildings and that work. Its guidance depends on your answers. It can provide general guidance and may, also, be focused on a particular project. It provides pop-up definitions through "hypertext".

Version 2.0 reflects updates for revisions, corrections and clarifications of the rule published by OSHA in Federal Register September 29, 1995 and August 23, 1996. The program is not intended to replace or amend the official text of the regulation, as published in 29 CFR 1910.1001 (general industry), 1915.1001 (shipbuilding), and 1926.1101 (construction). The Asbestos Advisor computer program is intended to provide an introduction to the scope and logic of the regulation and summary guidance to facilitate compliance. Effort has been made to insure the accuracy of information provided by the program, but the guidance provided by the program should not be relied upon as being comprehensive or binding on the government. The Asbestos Advisor's option listed as "Provide detailed text of regulations" allows the user to view and print the full regulation texts associated with selected topics. Users are encouraged to subsequently read the full text of the OSHA Asbestos Standards (29 CFR 1910, 1915, and 1926), and to seek appropriate legal counsel.

For complete information and to download program go to www.osha.gov/dts/osta/oshasoft/asbestos/index.html

Asbestos Exposure: Questions and Answers - Part I

As per the National Cancer Institute:

What is asbestos?

Asbestos is the name given to a group of minerals that occur naturally in the environment as bundles of fibers and can be separated into thin, durable threads. These fibers are resistant to heat, fire, and chemicals and do not conduct electricity. For these reasons, asbestos has been widely used in many industries.

There are two subgroups of asbestos: chrysotile, which has curly fibers and is in the serpentine family of minerals; and amphibole asbestos, which has straight, needle-like fibers and includes actinolite, tremolite, anthophyllite, crocidolite, and amosite asbestos. Chrysotile asbestos is the form that has been used predominantly in commercial applications worldwide (1, 2).

How is asbestos used?

Asbestos was mined and used commercially in North America beginning in the late 1800s. Its use increased greatly during World War II (3, 4). Since then, asbestos has been used in many industries. For example, the building and construction industry has used it for strengthening cement and plastics as well as for insulation, roofing, fireproofing, and sound absorption. The shipbuilding industry has used asbestos to insulate boilers, steampipes, and hot water pipes. The automotive industry uses asbestos in vehicle brakeshoes and clutch pads. Asbestos has also been used in ceiling and floor tile; paints, coatings, and adhesives; and plastics. In addition, asbestos has been found in vermiculite-containing consumer garden products and some talc-containing crayons.

In the late 1970s, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) banned the use of asbestos in wallboard patching compounds and gas fireplaces because the asbestos fibers in these products could be released into the environment during use. Additionally, in 1979, manufacturers of electric hairdryers voluntarily stopped using asbestos in their products. In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned all new uses of asbestos; uses established prior to 1989 are still allowed. The EPA also established regulations that require school systems to inspect for damaged asbestos and to eliminate or reduce the exposure to occupants by removing the asbestos or encasing it (2).

In June 2000, the CPSC concluded that the risk of children’s exposure to asbestos fibers in crayons was extremely low (1). However, the U.S. manufacturers of these crayons agreed to eliminate talc from their products. In August 2000, the EPA responded to reports it received about the adverse human health effects associated with exposure to asbestos-contaminated vermiculite by conducting a series of tests to evaluate the extent of the risk. The EPA investigation concluded that the potential exposure to asbestos from some vermiculite products poses only a minimal health risk to consumers. The EPA recommended that consumers reduce the low risk associated with the occasional use of vermiculite during gardening activities by limiting the amount of dust produced during use. Specifically, the EPA suggested that consumers use vermiculite outdoors or in a well-ventilated area; keep vermiculite damp while using it; avoid bringing dust from vermiculite use into the home on clothing; and use premixed potting soil, which is less likely to generate dust.

The regulations described above and other actions, coupled with widespread public concern about the health hazards of asbestos, have resulted in a significant annual decline in U.S. use of asbestos. Domestic consumption of asbestos amounted to about 803,000 metric tons in 1973, but it had dropped to about 2,400 metric tons by 2005 (3, 5).

Source: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/asbestos