Asbestos again :-(

[Hetty80]

Today we are having plastering done, I can't stop crying right now. The plasterer has scraped the edge of the ceiling and there is artex there which could contain asbestos. My daughter sleeps in that room?!

[Annie0904]

I had the artex scraped off every room in my house. There is not enough in the artex to be harmful and not all types of artex contain it. You will be cleaning the room before your daughter sleeps in it any way so nothing to worry about. My husband workes with asbestos every day for many years. That is when it becomes harmful but he is 66 and it hasnt affected him yet.

[Hetty80]

Thank you for your reply. I'm still incredibly anxious. Could I ask as your husband works with asbestos does he know this to be true. When I google artex and asbestos its very frightening. Also my mum told me that once they checked the artex on her house before they would carry out any work. She was trying to be reassuring in that it came back negative and our houses were built in the same era but its just panicked me more because they felt the need to check :-(

[Phuzella]

Not all artex contains asbestos though.

[Hetty80]

I know but if I don't know for sure, which I don't, then I'm going to worry. My husband is an electrician and says he comes across these things all the time and is sure it doesn't but I don't see how he can be sure without checking?

[Annie0904]

The amount in artex (if it is the type that has it) is so minute any way. I really would not be worried about it at all.

[Freaked]

This is a pretty common thing to have done; just think that if it was that easy to get asbestos poisoning, there'd be a lot of asbestos poisoning around.

[Fishmanpa]

When I read this I thought for a moment. I'm in my 50's. I grew up with lead based paint, asbestos insulation, never wore seat belts, had dangerous toys (chemistry sets, electronic project kits that came with soldering guns, LAWN DARTS!, bow and arrows that we shot into the air! BB guns ~lol~). I survived and had no ill effects from these things.

Even IF this were the type that contained asbestos, using common sense precautions while removing will insure no issues. We consume processed foods and place things on and into our bodies on a regular basis that contain more harmful ingredients.

Just for a giggle... watch this :)

Child Safety (http://www.jefffoxworthy.com/videos/jeff-on-child-safety)

Positive thoughts

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hetty, trust your husband. I worked in electricity utilities for many years and meter fixers wont do any job where they detect asbestos. This is usually meter fixing boards but they know how to detect it for their own safety so your husband must be too. He does plenty of drilling and fixing against walls and ceilings in his line of work.

FMP - asbestos issues have caused health problems in the UK but I think it has more been the guys doing the work because of all the dust. Its less common thesedays though. I think a lot of it has been ripped out over here due to the issues that were found years ago.