Asbestos exposure

[Bakebeansrule]

I’m struggling with my anxiety at the moment and saw my dr about it this week. To feel better I thought let’s start a project and fix up the utility room. The roof had a leak and the plasterboard had bubbled and come away. I left my hubby to start removing it and when I came back he had removed a huge amount and it was worse than we thought because the cement had come away with it. I then started googling to see what we would need to do to fix it and because of the house age it’s highly likely there was asbestos in the cement which we’ve majority disturbed and breathed in with removing and cleaning up. I’m so worried, I wish I hadn’t suggested we do it. We’ve got a builder coming over to see what we need to do but from what I’ve read the damage is done.

It’s now 2.30am and I’m laying here sick with worry we are going to end up seriously ill in 20 years time

[TinyDemons]

I have not posted on this forum for maybe 7-8 years now, and well, I was all about ready to write a new thread about the main topic or fear, which has sadly taken completely control over my life for the past 15-16 months. However, since your post arrived first, and also deals with a lot of same stuff I deal with, I hope it is okay for me to write here.

Not sure how easy it is to break down a very long and stressful 15-16 months of anxiety and fears, but for 9 and a half years, I lived in a very comfy and safe apartment building that was from around 1963. However, when I left my apartment early 12 of june 2024, I had absolutely no idea what kind of a nightmare I was about to stumble upon when returning home from training.
The air indoors had changed dramatically into heavy, dusty and dry air, which provoked my breathing and knowing very well I had cleaned the entire apartment just a few weeks, I knew that this was not something normal.

Anyway, I thought another round of cleaning and hours of ventilating with windows and the balcony door open would hopefully help. Sadly, it did nothing to change the bad air indoors.
Then I knew something fishy was going on, and to my frustration getting help from the janitor or housing assosication board was anything but easy.
They did not seem worried at all, however as the dry and dusty air continued, I started talking to neighbours upstairs and downstairs from my apartment, learning that I was not alone on having difficulties with bad air, and again, the board did not bother after I commented on that there were others people in the same building with similar problems.

Since summer vacation was getting near, and I felt more like a pain in the ass for the board and janitor, I had no other option than seeking help elsewhere, which turned out to be very expensive and even more frustrating. A company which speacialized in indoor climate visited me twice within a month, and I felt no closer to getting toward the source and cause than before they arrived with all kind of high tech equipment, which looked like something out of a Ghostbusters movie.

What made this all so frustrating, is that this bad air come and go, it is not there 24/7 all the time. And knowing that my body reacted negative to the dry and dusty air, and not knowing where it came from or the cause, I was lucky (so I thought) to sleep in another apartment away from the building. This has now gone on for almost exactly a year, and I have spent a whole lot of money on different companies and an appraise in hope that they might find the solution. But no luck what so ever.

This winter around end of march early april 2025, I noticed that there were several people in both my building and the next door building complaing about bad air and trouble with the ventilation system.
Some even were anxious about the air they breath in, or having family or guest over. The board members never replied to those people, and it provoked me that silence seemed to be their way of "communicating".

Exactly one year from when all this started, 11 of june 2025 I had come into contact with a company which specialized in indoors climated and ventilation systems.
They found out that the ventilation shaft that is suppose to take old air out of the building (tried to translate from norwegian into english, but all other kind of stuff arrived instead) and help the indoor balance, had not been cleansed for at least 20 years or more. It was full of dust and all kind of nasty stuff, and the board had absolutely no idea when the last time those ventilation shafts had been cleaned properly. The company which I had hired for the inspection, told me that these shafts need to be cleaned every 6-10 year, and anything after that is neglect.

The result did little to improve or give me any kind of clear answer, but I did naively hope this is where the source to my problems lied.

The board got told by the indoor company that they should clean these air/ventilation shafts as soon as possible, however the channels in this 1963 building where made of material consisting of fibre cement, which again had asbestos in them. Due to that they needed to do tests before the cleaning job started. 1 week after, the board put up a statement which told us that they had in their plans of cleaning the ventilation shafts, but not before 5-6 months into the future.

Now move onto november 2025 and nothing has happened, or most likely will happen anytime soon.

As a result of over 1 year of worry and anger, and due to my suspicion that the board would just keep on delaying, I realized the only way of getting out of this situation which felt very Groundhog Dayish, was to sell my apartment and move.

Now, a big reason beside my own health worries, not knowing what I had exposed myself to for so long time, was fearing the the price of my apartment would be reduced, and maybe I would not be able to sell it.

Thankfully, I managed to sell it, with very clear detailed information about the on and off bad air situation, and that the board had informed about their planned cleaning of the ventilation shafts.

And this is where things went from bad to worse:

Last week there was a reportage/article on the news of two young people having bought some building material for bathrooms, not knowing these where made of asbestos and were imported from China.
I did not manage to watch the entire clip, but tried to search up on their website through google.
Anyway, what I ended up with was an much older article from 2004 and where the famous (well, for us norwegians I guess) Trond Fausa Aurvåg was informed that behind the old 1960-70s metal ventilation valve flap, there was a layer of paper that turned out to be made of asbestos. These ventilations shafts was the ones that is supposed to bring fresh natural air from the outside into your homes, but the scary part was that these old valve flaps could be inside 100,000 homes or more and I could not believe this was not something which got blown up much more back then.

https://www.nrk.no/nyttig/asbest-i-f...tiler-1.906787

Of course, the very next day, I went to my now sold apartment (the new owner is not due to move in before 1 of december) to look if my valve flaps in the bedroom and kitchen had this kind of paper behind them, and well, I tried to take some photos of what they look like, and of course the past 5-6 days I have been deep down into the rabbit hole and there has been little to no sleep at all, and I have ordered some test set from a company which deals with finding out if there is something harmful or bad inside these valve flaps or not.

Of course I have already put a death sentence to myself, knowing that I have almost on a daily basis for the past 15-16 months been in my old apartment, hours after hours, never having a chance or a wild idea that the source could lie inside one of the the least suspecting places for this kind of material.

Have not been to my old apartment (there is still lots of things and furniture left) for a few days, and yesterday I bough a dust mask which according to the store I bought it in, will be safe to use if there is a risk of having asbestos in where you might be.

Beside my own health, I do feel I have a moral duty to make sure that both the new owner (this was not found when the apartment was sold) and also other people in the same building will not have to suffer, if it is what I fear it is. But yeah, right now could care less if the home sale goes to hell, as if I have exposed myself to this nasty shit for so long, I am not sure it will help much moving into a new apartment.

I know that it is never wise to take the sorrow for granted before knowing exactly what the outcome of the test will look like, but the anxiety is beyond chaos and of course since 17 september this year, on and off, I have been feeling stingy and heavy in my chest, and also the most unpleasant symptom has been the feeling of dry/dusty senstion inside my mouth and throat.
The kind of feeling which felt very much like breathing in the dry air when it suddenly appeared in my old apartment.

Damn, this was long and I am sorry for that, but yeah, very hard to hold back so much and for the past two night the only way to get some sleep has been alcohol and which again is not good for me, but it helps at least for some time to make me ignore all that has been going on.

I will post the images of the valve flap beneath, and I will just have to try to accept that I had never any chance of knowing what has been going on, or the source, even with so many expensive visits from all kind of inndoor climate/ventilation experts and their theories.

Again, I am sorry for this very long and chaotic post, but yeah, I wished I could get my hands on a time machine and go back in time to turn things around.
IMG_8295.jpg

[Carnation]

What age is your house bakebeansrule?

[Bakebeansrule]

Hi carnation how are you? My house was built in the late 1940-1950s

[Bakebeansrule]

Hi tinydeamsins I’m sorry you’re dealing with this it sounds like a nightmare. From what I’ve read and I’ve read a lot over the last 24 hours the asbestos is fine as long as it’s not broken or damaged in anyway.

[Carnation]

Bakebeansrule, my dad was a builder in the late 40s and onwards and he doesn't recall and issues with asbestos or any harm from any contact and lived to be a ripe old age.
He continued working in his trade until he retired.
I hope this gives you some comfort.

[Bakebeansrule]

Bakebeansrule, my dad was a builder in the late 40s and onwards and he doesn't recall and issues with asbestos or any harm from any contact and lived to be a ripe old age.
He continued working in his trade until he retired.
I hope this gives you some comfort.

Thank you for your reply. I’ve done a lot of reading over the last 24 hours and spoken to a few people in the building trade who have said they wouldn’t have given it a seconds thought. While the internet says any exposure is awful most cases are in people exposed to high quantities for years. Hubbies attitude is “oh well it’s done now let’s see what happens in 30 years time” I wish I could think like that.

[Carnation]

Bakebeansrule, I would have been the same if I hadn't had the knowledge and remember, Google will give you the worst case scenarios.
I really don't think you have anything to worry about with your house. My dad worked with cement very close up for 40 years.

[Bakebeansrule]

I’ve spoken to a roofer and a plumber this morning who have both said it’s very likely to have asbestos in the cement. I feel absolutely awful

[Carnation]

But it's unlikely to do you any harm. Otherwise there'd be thousands of people ill.
That's not a builder's opinion, it was a roofer and plumber.
My dad built 1950s houses and breathed and touched the cement, it's extremely rare you will be infected.
I presume you have a builder to make good that ceiling now, so you have to be exposed to the area? Or wear a mask if you need to use the machines in the utility room if it will make you feel safe.
Also speak to your GP if that will give you peace of mind, a quick call and chat on the phone. You can't have this hanging over you for 30 years