Asbestos exposure from ironing board

Section62

Woolsery said:

I'm not telling the OP what to do, but they're not the only person who will read this thread and have a similar problem; I had it too not that long ago. This is also a money saving site.

It's precisely because other people are likely to read this thread that it is so important to give accurate and safe advice.  It is very difficult to give generic and safe advice on delaing with asbestos-containing material because there is such a wide variety of materials out there with very different risk profiles.

Yes, this is a money saving site, but it isn't a 'save money at all costs' site.  When it comes to people's health and safety it doesn't make sense to pennypinch.

Woolsery said:

I'm not sure of the current policy, but until about 2 or 3 years ago the HSE gave guidance on their web site for dealing with small, low risk pieces of asbestos in a domestic situation. At my local recycling centre it's also possible to drop off double bagged asbestos, so presumably they expect a proportion of people to DIY with care. Good job too, or else somre people would just bury it or worse.

If you don't know what current HSE guidance says then I'd gently suggest that it is unwise for you to be offering advice to the OP (or anyone else reading this thread), other than advising them to seek out the current guidance.

As an example, your suggestion of using PVA glue is not very wise. It may help to seal the surface, but being an adhesive there is a risk of bonding the asbestos-containing material to the ironing board.  Then attempting to DIY remove the asbestos-containing material risks the PVA adhesive bond between the asbestos and the ironing board being stronger than the bonding within the material - thus causing the asbestos to break up and release fibres.  Unless you can find an applicable reference to using PVA in this kind of situation in the HSE guidance you might want to go back to that post and delete your suggestion, or at least caveat it with suitable references to reading the current HSE guidance before attempting anything like that.

This is one example of where people offering helpful money saving 'advice' can sometimes put other people at risk.

Woolsery said:

I disagree that deteriorating roofs aren't a big deal and they're all around us, on private garages too, though the rotting 30s cinema at the end of my daughter's garden in Birmingham was huge and rather special. Now fixed.

Disagree with who?  I haven't said anything like the BiB, and wouldn't.  The problem with asbestos is huge, and not helped by people giving bad advice on how to deal with it.

Woolsery

I agree it's hard to give people generic advice when asbestos comes in many forms, but this is a small bit of board that probably contains asbestos fibres, not some old pipe lagging or something else equally different. I suggested dealing with it out of doors, and if sealing it with a PVA mix is too esoteric then water is a common recommendation. Water dries out on slightly absorptive material and may need re-wetting, but the job is quick.

The guidance I wanted to refer to either isn't there any more or I have missed it somehow. Sadly, HSA seem now to confine almost all their comments to the trade, so Google enquiries from the likes of us ordinary folk are caught by various local authorities who allow the householder to dispose of asbestos properly double-bagged. I'd guess that's because the local recycling centre wants people to be fully informed and to turn up with their suspected asbestos safely wrapped so they're not risking themselves on the journey there or staff when they arrive. They also don't want them burying it or throwing it out of the car in a country lane, which is what happens when authority makes information hard to find or the disposal process difficult for potentially responsible people.

I'm saying no more. As someone who digs up bits of asbestos sheet in my garden on quite a regular basis, I'd be a pauper if I had to call in an 'expert' every time. No doubt I should report my land as contaminated next?

 

Section62

Woolsery said:

I agree it's hard to give people generic advice when asbestos comes in many forms, but this is a small bit of board that probably contains asbestos fibres, not some old pipe lagging or something else equally different.

 

That's the point.  You are making assumptions about what the 'bit of board' is and giving advice based on those assumptions.

In truth the only thing you have to go on is the OP saying 'asbestos cement'.  It could be AIB, or another high-content material.  There's no information whatsoever about whether the fibre content is white, brown or blue.

Assuming a 'small bit of board' poses no significant risk and can be dealt with in a 'DIY' fashion is how people manage to expose themselves to unnecessary risks.

Hopefully the OP will stick to their original plan and get a professional to deal with this for them.

chrisw

It's a piece of cement board from an old ironing board! There is more chance of getting hit by lightning on the way to the tip than catching asbestosis from it.

Section62

chrisw said:

It's a piece of cement board from an old ironing board! There is more chance of getting hit by lightning on the way to the tip than catching asbestosis from it.

Again, unless it has been tested, there's no way of knowing for sure that it is "cement board", nor what kind of asbestos fibres it might contain.

The OP thinks it is asbestos cement board, the cost of getting it tested is likely to be more than the cost of getting it professionally disposed of.

As a reminder, it is impossible to tell whether a material contains asbestos and what type of fibres may be present just by looking at a photo.  Anyone suggesting otherwise is giving misleading advice.

BikingBud

Try this:

https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a32.pdf

MouldyOldDough

It looks like HARD asbestos rather than SOFT asbestos - in which case you should be OK

Its the soft / fluffy stuff that needs handling with kid gloves !

Section62

MouldyOldDough said:

It looks like HARD asbestos rather than SOFT asbestos - in which case you should be OK

Its the soft / fluffy stuff that needs handling with kid gloves !

^ More mythology ^

The hardness or softness of a material (which anyway can't be measured from a photo) doesn't determine whether or not it contains asbestos which potentially poses a risk to health.

All materials that are suspected of containing asbestos need "handling with kid gloves", there are no asbestos-containing materials which are "OK".