Exposed to asbestos in old artex - worried

toffee'n'tom

Hi
About 20 years ago my ex husband and I bought a 1920's bungalow to totally renovate, we were around 30 years old at the time. We totally gutted the property including knocking off all the old plaster from the walls ourselves and, I can definitely remember that the bathroom at least had artex on the walls. I can't remember if I even work a simple mask. On top of all that we lived in one room in the property whilst renovating which took about 18 months. The place was constantly full of dust. We didn't have children at the time but they did come along about 6 months after we'd finished.

It's only now, when moving house and looking for a property to buy (which has artex walls) that I have discovered that, definitely old artex, contains asbestos.

I know I can't turn the clock back and I know now how ignorant we were at the time, but I am now really worried. Can anyone help with the risks we've been exposed to please?

Mojisola

This is the HSE advice -
https://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/faq.htm
If you are concerned about possible exposure to asbestos from work activities, you are advised to consult your GP and ask for a note to be made in your personal record about possible exposure, including date(s), duration, type of asbestos and likely exposure levels (if known). In some circumstances, your GP may refer you to a specialist in respiratory medicine. HSE does not advocate routine X-rays for people who have had an inadvertent exposure to asbestos. Asbestos-related damage to the lungs takes years to develop and become visible on chest X-rays. X-ray examinations cannot indicate whether or not asbestos fibres have been inhaled.

Try not to worry about it - anxiety could cause more health problems than the risks from asbestos. You're much more at risk from car accidents, etc, than you are from being in contact with asbestos.

stebiz

I can only echo the above. What has happened in the past you can't do a great deal about. EVERYBODY has been exposed to asbestos in some form or another. Its everywhere and yet only 5000 a year die from it. That is 1 in 12,500 of us. As said more die from car accidents etc.

I just had artex removed from mine. It had traces of the less dangerous asbestos. Less than 1%. That is the average amount they used to put in artex. I'd say out of the housing stock out there of about 20 million houses that at least 75% or more have asbestos in it.

I should add that it may not have had any at all. I had a few walls in mine tested that were done in the 70's and not all contained it.

Old lino had it in it too and every house used to have lino. I'm guessing we've all ripped it up too when putting down new carpets etc.

So try and put it into perspective. It really is the luck of the draw if you get this illness. One thing for sure none of us can do anything about the past.

Dan-Dan

I dont think 1920`s houses had asbestos in the artex

stebiz

Dan-Dan wrote: »

I dont think 1920`s houses had asbestos in the artex

Maybe or maybe not but the artex may have been added later.

Ben84

While it's good to be cautious and I wouldn't recommend pulling down old plaster and artex without a mask, it's also safe to say that a great number of people have encountered larger exposures than you've described and been fine.

Asbestos was used in small percentages in some artex as a binder. Thousands of people have stripped it down just like you did and been fine. Asbestos was also used in just about everything. From heat proof fabrics and gaskets to brake pads (for decades every car showered the street with asbestos dust every time it stopped). It was also widely used to make boards to wrap elements around in hair dryers, which you guessed it, blew out asbestos dust during use. From the 1930s-50s people sprinkled fire proof asbestos fake snow all over Christmas trees and department store displays. Most the fake snow scenes in films of that era (Wizard of Oz for example) show the cast having white asbestos dust sprinkled on them from above. I haven't even scraped the surface of just how much stuff it was used in, but you get the idea, people loved it back then. Amazingly however, the huge majority of people who lived through the decades when asbestos was considered harmless have survived without apparent respiratory problems and many are alive today at old ages.

Compared to typical exposure in the past, I think a bit of artex demolition is not so bad. I suspect you'll live

Pandilex

My parents told me when they were kids it was fun to soak asbestos in water and chuck it onto a bonfire because it explodes and looks cool. I think it's only people regularly exposed to it that have any risk, and you'll probably be fine.

phill99

You have more chance of becoming king than of dies from asbestosis.