But it's always scary when something like this happens, because you have all these "what-if" kinds of questions and of course, 99% of all asbestos websites are owned by mesothelioma lawyers who want everyone to think they are dying and file a lawsuit.Īs for my contractor. Honestly, I am sure that I have a higher likelihood of dying from my addiction to sweets. Given that he had already cleaned everything up and that it had been several hours before I came home, the majority of the dust probably already settled. He's going to wrap up this morning and then I am going to start wiping everything down with a wet cloth/mop and do what I can to clean up.Īfter a little more research regarding asbestos-related diseases, I have found that long-term exposure is almost always needed in order to see any health effects. However, our sun room and breakfast room were completely closed off during the work and I have been spending all my time in here. Still haven't gotten a chance to clean yet because the GC was in last night and will be here at 8:00 AM. Thank you for all the kind replies everyone. Your electrician needs to wise-up! (He may have been trying to save you money and trouble by metaphorically "sweeping it under the rug".) Hope I have helped you regain perspective and calm, not made you more anxious. If the electrician used your household vac to suck a lot of it up, the vac must be cleaned before you use it to do further cleaning. If you have an HVAC system that was running during this, it may have spread the asbestos more widely,ĭo you have a true HEPA vac? Some of those are OK with asbetos. (For peace of mind during outdoor vaccing, where a respirator.) If your interior doors were closed during asbestos-event, then stuff behind the doors is probably fine. Those are best carried outside and vac'd there. The only tricky part is the non-wet-wipable surfaces like books, curtains, upholstery, etc. But do clean your surfaces well, for peace of mind, and to reduce your risk even further.Īsbestos is bad stuff, but unless you were around great puffs of it being blown around, you are not at much risk if you clean your surfaces well. Unless there were piles of it around, your added risk is very, very, very small. You probably can get more direct asbestos exposure from walking around in a city for a weekend. You are correct that a one-time well-cleaned exposure raises your lifetime risk only a teensy-tiny bit. But only you know the level of anxiety you have.ĭon't panic, either. You have a choice: get a professional asbestos abatement company in (probably big $$$, but it may be worthwhile asking for quotes), or clean your surfaces yourself. Not all vermiculite has asbestos, you can have it tested. Broom or vac? Position of doors during the cleaning? Where are the sweepings now? Collect a sample of it in a double zip-lock bag. Tomorrow, try to find how how much vermiculite was exposed and swept up. Keep the all the interior doors closed and HVAC system off tonight. Go out for dinner! Have a glass of wine, or two.Ĭome home later, and take a shower and change the sheets on the bed. Shut all the interior doors and turn off the HVAC system, right away. I just feel so worried and disappointed in myself for not realizing ahead of time that this could be an issue. I do know that whatever cleaning I do, it will need to be WET in order to capture whatever dust residue is here. I know 1-time exposure probably isn't enough to do that much damage, but I have always been a bit of a hypochondriac. We've been exposed to whatever dust that we'll be exposed to. I should have never assumed.Īt this point, whatever damage has been done is done. I also figured that if he ran into vermiculite, he would know about the link with asbestos (I mean, I knew and I am not in construction) and would handle it according to whatever necessary guidelines are out there. I knew we had vermiculite in the attic, and I suspected that there might be some in the walls, but I never anticipated him tearing into the walls like he did. Well, I came home and saw a few pieces on the floor, and realizing what it was I started to panic. Apparently, he had never dealt with the stuff (which shocked me), and he just swept it up and threw it away. He tore into the wall and vermiculite insulation poured out of the walls. So yesterday my contractor worked on some of the electrical while hubby and I were at work.
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