The state of Massachusetts’ new “Healthy Buildings, Healthy Air” campaign is taking aim at asbestos. The campaign, created by state Attorney General Maura Healey, targets raising educating at-risk populations, including children, the elderly and low-income families, about protection from asbestos through a multi-faceted approach that partners state agencies with local school districts, according to a press release by the Attorney General’s Office. “Asbestos can be found in many homes, schools, and workplaces, and if it is not handled properly it poses a serious health risk,” Healey said. “Too often, children, families, and workers are exposed to airborne asbestos fibers due to shoddy or unlicensed work, and many aren’t aware of the serious
Hazardous materials can be silent killers, almost every household or workplace contains various harmful substances therefore it is important to have the basic knowledge of these contaminants, where to find them, and what to do if exposed. Asbestos is a natural occurring mineral that is used in a number of different materials. Asbestos is not a concern if left undisturbed; however renovation, reconstruction or demolition can disturb these materials and release asbestos fibers into the air. Asbestos fibers can be inhaled and become trapped in lung tissue which increases the risk for several serious diseases. Asbestos is a well recognized health hazard and is highly regulated.
The worst possible place asbestos can be is in your school. Asbestos containing products were used extensively in the construction of schools and other public buildings in the 1970’s. In 1986, Congress passed the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) to protect public and private school children and school employees from asbestos exposure. AHERA acknowledges that asbestos materials in schools that are intact generally do not pose a health risk, and includes provisions to monitor the condition of
Asbestos Abatement: Used as a building material for decades, asbestos is a known carcinogen still present in many older homes. Rather than risking your health and that of your loved ones, let SafeGuard Restoration help.
In June 2015 Elizabeth Ann was affected with pneumonia and a cat scan confirmed that she had been contaminated with asbestos in her lungs. Her neighbor at the time while she resided at 3805 Paprika Way, in the City of Oceanside California decided to take down the ceiling referred to as popcorn ceiling from his residence. As it is known, such popcorn ceiling contains asbestos and must be removed professionally. When the owner took down the popcorn ceiling, he placed the debris between both his property and Elizabeth Ann’s rental property. It was the airborne particles that entered through her open window that infected her respiratory system.
You have locked all the windows, made sure all the doors are locked and secure and set the security alarm before retiring to bed. You even had security lights added at the corners and entrances of your home. Despite all your efforts to protect your family, there is a killer in your home, lurking, waiting, for the right moment to strike. It is not a person, but a thing, and it is called asbestos. Asbestos is a mineral found and mined out of the earth and is naturally fire and heat resistant. Therefore, it was used in many building materials such as insulation for building and electrical, mixed with cement, and used in fabric or mats. The prolonged inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis. According
According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), exposure to asbestos increases the risk of developing malignant Mesothelioma. The latency period for the disease is
Despite being banned in Australia nowadays, asbestos can still be found in most of older construction, residential and commercial area as well as abandoned mining site. Studies show that the building workers, specifically the plumbers, gas fitters, carpenters and electricians the highest risk of getting mesothelioma, disease from asbestos fibres (Peto, J., Hodgson, J.T., Matthews, F.T., & Jacqueline, R., 1995). According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the number of mesotheliomas ' cases are increasing and expected to reach 18000 in recent. Though the asbestos is known as hazardous material, it can only affect the health if the asbestos fibres become airborne and are inhaled. The primary route for the asbestos to enter the body is through the inhalation processes of the contaminated air (Safework Australia, 2011). Unusually, small fibrous particles of
Asbestos is normally found in buildings built or refurbished before the year 2000.Anyone who works in building maintenance could be at risk if they disturb asbestos. Asbestos can be found in many areas of a building including water tanks pipes and gutters. It is also found in some paint and textured coatings. The legal requirements of asbestos include the 2002 Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations. These regulations put an obligation on employers to prevent exposure to asbestos include requiring employers to assess the condition of these materials and access the risk from these materials. Provide anyone who may come in contact with asbestos the location and condition of the material. The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 include changes
Make sure that the asbestos removal company can provide you detailed information about where asbestos is found. You can make this question even more specific by asking where asbestos is commonly found in buildings in your area. A highly qualified company will be able to tell you
When left untouched and undamaged asbestos is generally safe, significant health risks arise when the material the asbestos is
There is there own landfills that you have to take the asbestos you can't just take it to any landfill and you just can't throw it to the trash bag it needs to be taken to the landfills that they are supposed to be taking to. Between 1996 and 2005 there were more than 380 workers that died from asbestos related disease. So you would have to take the proper equipment to take out the asbestos from your home or from the schools. But you also have to be careful because asbestos is in other things then just insulation there is asbestos in paper, Roofing and Siding Shingles, and there is Asbestos in hot water pipes and also in brakes, there is a lot of asbestos in the brakes because there is an intersection in Cleveland, Ohio where so many people hit their brakes that cause a lot of asbestos to be put into the air.
people are still unaware of how damaging it can be to their health. Asbestos is the name
Inhaling particles of asbestos has been found to cause mesothelioma, a cancer generally affecting the lining of the lungs. Though it is now considered a carcinogen, it was widely used in construction pre-1970s due to its insulative properties.
There are many dangers associated with exposure to asbestos. The results of this exposure are severe and sometimes fatal. The environment contains fewer amounts of Asbestos, but the majority of the problems occur from professional hazards. People working in the construction industry, especially those using materials containing asbestos have a high exposure to asbestos. Asbestos dust and fibers cause significant health problems when inhaled in larger volumes over an extended period of time. That’s why most states in the US and Europe have made laws that require testing of buildings for asbestos before demolishing them.
The highest exposures were observed in workers who mined the mineral, where mechanical force and abrasion released microscopic fibers into the air and brought the workers into direct contact with asbestos (Kamp, 2009). Inhalation of asbestos is the most common form of exposure can result in a myriad of respiratory diseases and pathologic processes that are largely confined to the lungs and pleurae (Donaldson et al, 1989, Poland & Clift, 2013). Furthermore, it can take decades for the diseases to manifest since the time of exposure (Jamrozik, Klerk, & Musk, 2011). The most prevalent of these diseases is pleural plaques, which are raised hard benign lesions on the parietal pleurae and affects 3 to 58 percent of the exposed population to asbestos. (Jamrozik, Klerk, & Musk, 2011; Donaldson et al., 2013). Other diseases caused by asbestos exposure include asbestosis induced by the accumulation of asbestos fibers in the lungs; mesothelioma, which is a tumour arising from the mesothelium lining the pleural space; and lung cancer (Borrow et al., 1973; Goodglick & Kane, 1990; Dodson et al.,