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Posted: 3/8/2017 2:22:14 PM EDT
Just helped my dad tear half his roof off, they're old asbestos singles. I'm covered head to toe in the dust and debris that came off when we were ripping it all apart, blowing it out my nose etc. He said its ok, asbestos is contained in the tar. But I'm reading that might not be true if its disturbed as much as we were. Did I breathe any in? How bad could it be?
edit Test came back negative on the samples for asbestos! Thanks to Zoomer302 for your generosity in running the samples! |
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nothing you can do about it now. just wet it down if you do something like this in the future to keep the dust down.
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The problem with asbestos shingles or any other product made with them IS the dust.
The fibers get into the lungs and the body can't remove them. There is a method to remove asbestos shingles, floor tile and other products made with them and it involves respirators and masks and proper disposal. |
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You probably screwed up--bad. As above, the dust is the issue.
Edit: Curious--did your dad name you "Sue?" |
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Wear an approved respirator when doing them, they are like $30 or under at he depot. Cheap insurance.
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Quoted:
Just helped my dad tear half his roof off, they're old asbestos singles. I'm covered head to toe in the dust and debris that came off when we were ripping it all apart, blowing it out my nose etc. He said its ok, asbestos is contained in the tar. But I'm reading that might not be true if its disturbed as much as we were. Did I breathe any in? How bad could it be? View Quote How old are you? You will know in 10 - 20 years how bad they are when your lungs start filling with fluid from the scar tissue build-up. |
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You wanna be on mesothelioma commercials? Cuz that's how you get on mesothelioma commercials.
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Not smart, but I predict Darwin has an alternative to mesothelioma in store for you...
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You needed to have soaked them in water / oil / wax during the removal process. Anything to suppress the mobility of dust
ETA: Basic personal protective equipment e.g. disposable coveralls, gloves and a respirator would have gone a long way. |
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Yeah that's a bad deal bud, I work for a roofing contractor and we hire an abatement team to tear off asbestos roofing material. They come and do it in full protective gear, and the material is put in bags and tied up before being brought to an approved dump.
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Remember all those old timers who died of asbestosis and mesothelioma?
They would probably recommend PPE of Tyvek suit, taped-down gloves and boot covers, and respirator... |
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Be careful how you throw it away. Since you broke it all up it's now considered regulated hazardous waste. (In the "parlance" you turned a non-friable ACM into a friable one, and from a regulatory standpoint, especially DOT/waste hauling, it's bad ju-ju.)
Next time wet it down, and wear a P-100 (Magenta) 1/2 face APR (Respirator). In NY anyway, a single family dwellings homeowner can do any work on his own house that he wants. Hiring a "contractor" changes everything. Your issue now is getting rid of it. |
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I'm sorry OP, when was the last time you counted your Chromosomes? Are you sure you have the correct amount?
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It's bad, I wouldn't do it again, but a single day doing it probably won't mean anything. The people screwed by asbestos are almost always people with chronic exposure
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Dude, I hate to tell you this but you might have just given yourself a very horrible cancer in the future.
Trust me, I just lost the majority of my family due to asbestos cancer (mesothelioma). Why didn't you come here sooner and just ask us before?? Seriously, you really did just majorly fuck up, in a very bad way. |
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Quoted:
Remember all those old timers who died of asbestosis and mesothelioma? They would probably recommend PPE of Tyvek suit, taped-down gloves and boot covers, and respirator... View Quote Those old timers also worked with asbestos day in and day out for years. And the incidence of mesothelioma was much higher even among that group with those who smoked versus those who didn't. He's probably ok. But yeah, no sense in breathing in a bunch of known to be hazardous to health dust if you don't have to. I removed asbestos shingles from an old workshop once. They were almost all intact, so there wasn't much hazard, but I wore a respirator anyways. |
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You definitely breathed it in but you'll find out your consequence in 20-30 years. I had a dumb ass working for me who risked working in a hot area (not abated yet so suits and respirators were required) without wearing a mask like he should. He said, "oh, I'll be dead by the time that affects me." Well since he didn't like to wear his other PPE either he is probably right. He no longer works for me thank god.
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My grandfather frequently worked with asbestos as a plumber and lived a long life.I think we have a lot of dramatic 'experts' instantly pronouncing death.
Hose it down and wear a mask. |
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As long as you don't smoke you should be ok with a one time exposure. Even if you do smoke I doubt one time would be too bad. Asbestos is really bad to breathe in, but it's hardly a death sentence if you do inhale some fibers.
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Quoted:
You probably screwed up--bad. As above, the dust is the issue. Edit: Curious--did your dad name you "Sue?" View Quote You probably won't know how bad you fucked yourself for 10 to 20 years. Just remember this day when, God Forbid, you get some real shitty news. I don't know how this could effect you if you go to the Dr. and tell him/her what you did. Referring to life and health insurance. |
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Don't sweat it. One time exposure will probably not bother you. If you did it daily for 20 years then I would worry.
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IIRC, I read in a similar thread here that most of the mesothelioma deaths/lawsuits were from industrial applications. I think I even read somewhere that there are different types of asbestos, and the stuff in your house won't be as dangerous as other places, but I could be totally wrong on that.
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Listen to your old man. Unless you were grinding or power sawing the shingles, very little asbestos would be released. The dust is from the rest of the world.
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Most of those old timers mentioned were around it daily for 30 years, in addition to smoking 2 packs of Lucky Strikes a day. A lot of the exposure was indoors and concentrated, for years on end. Half of one roof tear off is nothing.
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More impactful on your life than a one time exposure, is the hazardous waste you generated, which you are now responsible for. Especially since you admittedly know what it is. Can't just throw it in the dumpster to contaminate the next however many people might unwittingly come in contact with it.
Don't be a twat, take care of your waste stream. |
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Quoted:
Just helped my dad tear half his roof off, they're old asbestos singles. I'm covered head to toe in the dust and debris that came off when we were ripping it all apart, blowing it out my nose etc. He said its ok, asbestos is contained in the tar. But I'm reading that might not be true if its disturbed as much as we were. Did I breathe any in? How bad could it be? View Quote You'll be fine. People who have repeated exposure over long periods of time are the ones who are at a high risk. |
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For all you experts, not one of my family that had mesothelioma and died from it worked in asbestos factories and were non smokers. It affects some people differently.
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You'll be fine. That dust wasn't asbestos - just old lead paint.
But wear a respirator next time. |
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You are already dead! You just haven't gotten around to laying down yet.
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Arf GD: Oh teh noes! A one time exposure to Asbestos! You gonna die!
but being over weight, chronically drunk and eating tons of processed food is just fine. OP...you aren't over weight, chronically drunk, a smoker, and an eater of tons of processed food, as well as a one time breather of asbestos, are you? Because if so, all that might be unhealthy. |
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Quoted:
IIRC, I read in a similar thread here that most of the mesothelioma deaths/lawsuits were from industrial applications. I think I even read somewhere that there are different types of asbestos, and the stuff in your house won't be as dangerous as other places, but I could be totally wrong on that. View Quote There are 6 regulated asbestos types - with the Libby, Montana fiasco they are adding 2 other "amphiboles (Winchite and Richterite (sp?)). The most common type is "white" asbestos, a serpentine called chrysotile. It's "wavy" under a microscope and is by far the most prevalent type. Most estimates say its found 90 - 95% of the time asbestos is detected. The REALLY nasty ones (Amosite and Crocidolite (Brown and Blue asbestos)) are acicular (needle-like) and are nasty under a scope. It's true the latency from exposure to effect is in the 40 year range and most forensic data is off people exposed daily and in massive doses. But heres the rub. Smoking causes emphysema. The more you smoke the better your chances of getting emphysema. Its a direct (linear) relationship. You smoke 1 cigarette a day you have a 1X chance of getting it. You smoke 100 cigarettes a day you have a 100X likelihood of getting it. Makes sense. Asbestos exposure doesn't work like that in the case of mesothelioma. Many asbestos mill workers did not get meso, but their wives did - because she did the laundry and was exposed to the workers clothes. A guy can work all day everyday with it and NOT get meso, but a kid exposed when he was 10 in school and was never exposed again can get it. It's a non-linear relationship and doesn't make sense on an exposure level. A single one time exposure to a non-friable organically bound ACM most probably wont do any lasting harm. We have to go through hell in the lab just to isolate asbestos fibers from such materials (cook them in an oven for 12 hours at 480 C, then acid wash them. It's the soft, puffy friable stuff that is easily damages where fibers become airborne that poses the greatest exposure threat. And stay the hell away from the high temperature high pressure steam pipe coverings that look and feel like the "gym chalk" that we all saw in gym class when we did gymnastics. That older stuff has those 2 nasty kinds of asbestos in most cases |
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I think you would have been safer going bare back on the nastiest dirty ass hookers you can find and doing ATM. This has to be the dumbest thing I have heard someone do in a long time.
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Quoted:
There are 6 regulated asbestos types - with the Libby, Montana fiasco they are adding 2 other "amphiboles (Winchite and Richterite (sp?)). The most common type is "white" asbestos, a serpentine called chrysotile. It's "wavy" under a microscope and is by far the most prevalent type. Most estimates say its found 90 - 95% of the time asbestos is detected. The REALLY nasty ones (Amosite and Crocidolite (Brown and Blue asbestos)) are acicular (needle-like) and are nasty under a scope. It's true the latency from exposure to effect is in the 40 year range and most forensic data is off people exposed daily and in massive doses. But heres the rub. Smoking causes emphysema. The more you smoke the better your chances of getting emphysema. Its a direct (linear) relationship. You smoke 1 cigarette a day you have a 1X chance of getting it. You smoke 100 cigarettes a day you have a 100X likelihood of getting it. Makes sense. Asbestos exposure doesn't work like that in the case of mesothelioma. Many asbestos mill workers did not get meso, but their wives did - because she did the laundry and was exposed to the workers clothes. A guy can work all day everyday with it and NOT get meso, but a kid exposed when he was 10 in school and was never exposed again can get it. It's a non-linear relationship and doesn't make sense on an exposure level. A single one time exposure to a non-friable organically bound ACM most probably wont do any lasting harm. We have to go through hell in the lab just to isolate asbestos fibers from such materials (cook them in an oven for 12 hours at 480 C, then acid wash them. It's the soft, puffy friable stuff that is easily damages where fibers become airborne that poses the greatest exposure threat. And stay the hell away from the high temperature high pressure steam pipe coverings that look and feel like the "gym chalk" that we all saw in gym class when we did gymnastics. That older stuff has those 2 nasty kinds of asbestos in most cases View Quote So if I have old 1960's tiles in my basement and 2-3 of them have chipped over the years....I'm likely ok or basically screwed? No way to tell really? |
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Do you know for certain they contained asbestos? Three-tab asphaltic shingles can contain asbestos, but it's not very common.
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Quoted:
So if I have old 1960's tiles in my basement and 2-3 of them have chipped over the years....I'm likely ok or basically screwed? No way to tell really? View Quote You are ok. The asbestos is so tightly bound into the polyvinylchloride matrix that unless you belt sanded it, or pulverized it into bits, fibers wont come out of it. |
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Any time you breathe outside your house you are being exposed to asbestos fibers in the air every time a car hits the brakes and releases brake dust into the air. The fibers that MAY hurt you 30 years down the road are the ones you CAN'T see that are tiny enough to get inside your lungs and are not even visible. The dust stuff in your nose is not what will kill you. If you smoke you are 10 to 100 times more likely to come down with asbestosis or mesothelioma than a non-smoker.
The fiber release from roof tiles should be minimal since generally they are non-friable material. Friable means you can crush it into a fine powder by hand like sprayed on asbestos insulation which has been illegal to use for the last 40 years or so. If the roofing tiles are less than 30 years old they may not even contain asbestos. There is no way to tell if they are asbestos containing without getting them tested. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it if I was you. All that being said, now that you have been warned by everyone, just go buy a NIOSH approved facemask respirator with the cartridges that are approved for asbestos fiber filtration. They are relatively inexpensive and cheap insurance. Also, like someone else mentioned, just get a disposable tyvek coverall to put on while you are doing the removal if you still haven't finished it. Most of the folks you see dying from asbestosis and mesothelioma were heavily exposed over a working lifetime repeatedly like spray on insulation workers, auto mechanics, pipefitters, etc. , and many were smokers which only made the exposure even worse. You are much more likely to get hurt on that roofing work from falling off the roof than asbestos exposure. Also, be careful when you drive home. Your odds of dying really go up a lot every time you get behind the wheel, especially if you are texting or playing with your smart phone. |
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