Has your house ever undergone asbestos abatement? If you’re not sure, and the house that you’re living in is not brand new, then we suggest you read on. For all you know, you might be putting the lives of your household members, and yours, at risk.
Background
A short background should be worthwhile here. Asbestos used to be a very popular material in the field of construction. It possessed practically all the characteristics essential for a construction material, that it was dubbed as the miracle mineral. Not only was it resistant to heat (arguably its most popular characteristic), but to electrical and chemical damage as well. Added to these were its outstanding sound absorption and tensile strength characteristics. Because of this, it was often mixed with other construction materials. For example to make use of its heat resisting capabilities, asbestos fibers were mixed with cement or woven into fabric, as with a fireman’s suit.
Asbestos however lost its luster in the late 1980’s when the United States EPA issued the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule. This was after a longstanding debate about the matter since the early 1990’s when asbestos-related diseases were first reported. However, in 1991, the ban was overturned in the case of Corrosion Proof Fittings v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Hence, while majority of the developed countries such as the European Union, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand have already banned the use of asbestos in construction projects due to health and safety reasons, the United States still allows, albeit to a limited extent, the use of asbestos in some construction materials.
You should not be as worried about the presence of asbestos in your workplace or home if the building has been newly built as you should be if the building is an old one. A point of clarification should be established here. What building can be considered old and what can be considered new? Since the mixing of asbestos with construction materials has significantly dropped after the ban in 1991, buildings constructed in the late 1990s may be considered relatively safe. But why only until late in the 1990’s? Well, construction materials containing asbestos weren’t totally discarded immediately after 1991. In fact, some of those selling asbestos-reinforced materials chose to sell out their remaining stock before adhering to the ban, which understandably took some time. Therefore, you should seriously consider implementing asbestos abatement if you think your building was constructed before the late 1990’s.
The Risks Involved
You might be wondering how serious a health problem asbestos can be, hence, some of the more serious effects might be worth mentioning here. This might also help you to understand the importance of studying the options leading to asbestos abatement, the moment you confirm that your building contains asbestos.
Since asbestos is fibrous in nature, and very tiny ones at that, these can easily go airborne once exposed to the surrounding air. For comparison, a human hair can be 10,000 times broader than the narrowest asbestos fiber. Thus, when used, it should be made sure that the asbestos fibers are contained or held in place with the material it is mixed with.
Due to the fibrous nature of asbestos, arguably the most common health problems caused by asbestos are lung-related; lung cancer being one of them. Asbestosis, described as the scarring of the lung tissue, is another one. Both of these are occupational diseases; i.e., more naturally occurring in a particular workplace compared to those of the general populace. Asbestos fibers may also penetrate the human skin. When it does, the lesions formed may eventually develop into what are known as asbestos warts.
Asbestos Abatement Approaches
Since the knowledge of the harmful effects of asbestos became widespread, the interest in proper asbestos abatement procedures also gained ground. There are four main approaches of preventing or controlling exposure to asbestos fibers: removal, encapsulation, enclosure, and management plan. The first three can be implemented in combination or separately.
Removal
Removal is the most expensive and disruptive asbestos abatement approach since it requires an interruption of the regular activities in the affected area. It would also require you to replace certain portions of the building that used to contain asbestos-reinforced materials. Removal is especially necessary if the building structures will be affected in a planned renovation or demolition. This is because such activities (renovation and demolition) would most likely disturb the portions containing asbestos. When removal is being implemented, the safety of the workers should be given top priority since this activity can put them at a risk of being exposed to the asbestos fibers. This approach however leads to the most permanent solution since the asbestos fibers will no longer be present after this is implemented.
Encapsulation
Encapsulation is considered as a temporary asbestos abatement approach since the asbestos fibers still remain in the area. They are simply sealed in. This process requires the spraying of special sealants on asbestos-containing materials. When this is done, ensuring that the sealant actually penetrated into the material is very necessary. Failure to comply with this detail would put the material at a risk of being delaminated upon impact with nearby objects. This may allow the asbestos to leak out. Because of this possibility, regular inspection of the affected areas should be made to ensure that lamination is constantly in good condition.
Enclosure
Enclosure, just like encapsulation, is also a considered a temporary asbestos abatement approach. It is also the quickest, easiest and the most economical approach since it simply requires a physical barrier between the asbestos-containing material and the surrounding areas. This is the least recommended approach because if the asbestos-containing material deteriorates behind the barrier, the scenario would be analogous to a hidden bomb that could easily detonate the moment the barrier is breached. Assuming that deterioration of the asbestos-containing material does happen, this approach would also make it difficult to remove the material when the time comes to do so.
Management Plan
When the asbestos-containing material is retained in the premises, as and when a temporary asbestos abatement approach such as encapsulation or enclosure is implemented, a management plan has to be put into action. The plan should take into consideration the following items:
§ inventory of the asbestos-containing materials within the premises
§ schedule of inspection of the said materials
§ training and informing of individuals located within the proximity of the said materials
§ coming up with a set of procedures to address emergency situations such as a sudden breach of the barrier.
§ labeling of the said materials
A management plan can be very costly and tedious both for the administrators and the rank and file, particularly those nearest to the affected area.
Asbestos Abatement Procedures
Asbestos abatement procedures are categorized into three: low risk, moderate risk, and high risk. The risk factors depend on the potential for generating airborne asbestos fibers. For the low and moderate risk procedures, it is assumed that the asbestos-containing materials that are handled are non-friable, while the high risk procedures involve friable materials.
All three procedures are governed by the same principles:
§ isolate the work area
§ ensure the safety of the workers
§ minimize the release of asbestos fibers
§ ensure adequate clean-up and decontamination of the affected areas
Low Risk Asbestos Abatement Activities
These procedures have the lowest risk of releasing asbestos fibers into the air. Such activities may include the following:
§ Disassembling/assembling of structures made of asbestos-containing materials, when such activities do not require cutting, breaking, sanding, or vibrating of the said materials
§ Using non-powered hand tools when cutting or drilling such materials so long as water is used to prevent the fibers from going airborne.
§ Transportation or handling of sealed asbestos-containing materials.
Moderate Risk Asbestos Abatement Activities
Some activities that are considered to have a moderate risk of generating airborne asbestos fibers are the following:
§ Using non-powered hand tools when cutting or drilling asbestos-containing materials without using water to prevent the fibers from going airborne.
§ Using mechanically or electrically-powered hand tools when cutting or drilling asbestos-containing materials for as long as the tools are attached with a HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter dust collector.
§ Removing, encapsulating, or enclosing small areas (around 1ft2) of asbestos-containing material. This usually happens during demolitions or renovations of a structure containing the said material.
§ Dry buffing or stripping of vinyl asbestos tiles
§ Removing of a maximum of 100 ft2 of asbestos-containing ceiling tile.
High Risk Asbestos Abatement Activities
Below are some activities that are considered to have a high risk of generating airborne asbestos fibers:
§ Removing, encapsulating, or enclosing areas larger than 1ft2 of asbestos-containing material.
§ Performing maintenance tasks on air-handling equipment in buildings that have been sprayed with fireproof asbestos-containing materials.
§ Performing maintenance tasks on boilers, kilns, or furnaces where asbestos-containing materials have been applied.
§ Removing of more than 100ft2 of asbestos-containing ceiling tile
§ Removing of friable asbestos-containing material without the use of water.
§ Performing asbestos abatement activities in areas believed to have a high concentration of airborne asbestos fibers for a time frame that exceeds the prescribed 8-hour OEL (occupational exposure limit).
It is important to identify which specific category a particular asbestos abatement activity belongs. This is useful in determining what type of equipment will be used and what precautionary measures to enforce when performing the said activities. Such details are not however included in this article.
Due to its friable characteristic, asbestos is very difficult to handle or dispose. One must therefore be equipped with sufficient knowledge on asbestos abatement to know how to properly deal with this hazardous material.
