Asbestos is hazardous. The various health ailments due to asbestos led to the banning of asbestos in Australia. In 2003 Australia banned asbestos but any house built or renovated before 1990 is likely to contain asbestos in it. Not only homes, commercial high tier buildings or on-going industrial projects, but many construction sites also use asbestos.
Asbestos was highly popular in the construction field due to its resistance to heat, water, and erosion.
Asbestos in various places used
Its usage has been immense before the ban. Usually, you can find and remove asbestos behind the tiles of the bathroom, used as ceiling insulation, vinyl floor tiles, moulded exterior walls, power boards and as cladding to name a few.
The different forms of asbestos in use
It was common to use two types of asbestos in construction of the building in Australia: Friable asbestos and Non-Friable (bonded) Asbestos.
Friable asbestos is mainly in powered form or can easily get reduced to the powder form by merely crumbling in hand. Builders used this type of asbestos mostly in the commercial sector as sprayed limpet or lagging pipelines. That was less usage of this type in the residential sector. A few of the houses have loose asbestos as a ceiling- filling due to insulation properties of asbestos.
Non-Friable Asbestos or Bonded Asbestos is that which cannot be crumbled by hand when dry. This unpredictable material is bonded to the building product instead to reduce the risk of spreading the fibres in the breathable air. If left alone, bonded asbestos is safe, but the risk factor remains if human beings come in contact.
Are you living in an environment with asbestos fibres?
There are no ways to tell whether your house has asbestos or not merely by looking. The only way to know the presence of asbestos is getting inspected and tested by professionals specialising in the same domain. The professionals use a combination stereo microscope and PLM or polarising light microscope to check for crystals of asbestos. It is essential for Commercial Asbestos Removal from the buildings in question. A serious life threat hovers over the head due to this dangerous fibrous silicate mineral. Lung cancer, Asbestosis, and Mesothelioma are a few health hazards one is susceptible to.
Never tamper with asbestos
Whatever you do but never try to remove this fibrous silicate mineral by yourself. Never try
- Cutting
- Water blasting
- Dumping
- Exemplifying
- Breaking
- Sanding
- Scraping
- Drilling the asbestos yourself.
The dust particles of the fibrous silicate mineral will surround the environment, and it will make the bonded asbestos friable.
Hire the experienced and the most recommended professionals in the market
While hiring it is important that you hire a licensed contractor validated by the law. While removing asbestos, experts recommend that your contractor at least has a Class B license from the law. For handling friable Class the professional needs to have a license of asbestos. So while removing friable asbestos your contractor should have the same.
