Asbestos Awareness: Bonded Asbestos Risk Revision

Nov. 24, 2011 - PRLog -- Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006, asbestos surveys are required to be carried out in advance of renovations or demolition of premises, specially when a building is known to have been built or previously renovated  up until at least the mid 1980s.

Despite the development of legislation and promotion of asbestos awareness, chrysotile white asbestos continued to be used in building industry products such as cement and textured ceiling coatings right up until an outright ban was imposed in 1992, which was eventually extended to the use  of asbestos insulating board (AIB) in 1998.

During most of the twentieth century, but in particular, during peak usage from the 1950s to the 1970s and into the 1980s, the building or renovation of private residences, housing estates, rented flats, offices and workplaces, schools, hospitals and other public building would likely involve materials mixed with the insulating and fire retardant asbestos fibres.

In addition, the curly or ‘serpentine’ group of chrysotile white asbestos fibres was extremely well adapted to be used in ‘bonded’ asbestos products such as polyvinyl plastic floor tiles and stair nosings, commonly found in offices and factories, and notably in stairwells. When asbestos fibres are ‘bonded’ to another material, such as a cement or resin binder, the product cannot be crumbled, crushed or reduced to a powder by hand pressure when dry.

In contrast to most white asbestos materials found in a worn, damaged or friable ( disintegrating) condition, polymer-formed plastics have also been found to be more resistant to decomposition and the asbestos fibres remain protected for a longer period of time. Asbestos can also be present in bitumen adhesive used to affix the tiles to the floor and in the paper backing (100% chrysotile), also found on some linoleums.

As well as textured ceiling coatings and  vinyl floor tiles, hard bonded asbestos is the most commonly found form of asbestos in the home which was used in flat corrugated or compressed asbestos-cement sheeting used on garage roofs and walls, drainage or flue pipes and floor tiles. The mineral can  also still be found in some warm air heating systems, storage heaters, and numerous other items - including  the protective insulating iron stand panel on an ironing board.

However, a recent asbestos management review has advised the reassessment of the risk potential of ‘bonded’ asbestos when subject to fire, high temperatures, flooding,  and other types of severe damage caused by extreme weather or natural disaster. As with other types of asbestos, when damaged or disturbed, the deadly fibres are released as dust into the surrounding atmosphere, which can be easily inhaled.

Asbestos fibres permanently embed in the linings of the lungs (pleura) or stomach (peritoneum), eventually causing asbestosis diseases or the incurable malignant mesothelioma cancer.  A long gestation period of between15 to 50 years from original exposure to emergence of asbestosis symptoms when the disease  is in an advanced stage and the patient is often elderly means a survival rate of 6 – 12 months at best after confirmed diagnosis.

Visit http://www.asbestosvictimadvice.com for more information and advice.

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