To be worried about second hand clothing?

[Giraffemonkey8]

Totally random question and probably a ridiculous worry but when we moved into our new home we had it tested for asbestos as there was a query about it due to the age of the property. It didn’t have asbestos in it thank goodness, however around the time I did lots of reading up on asbestos removal etc and became aware that asbestos is in small amounts etc in the air and obviously if you have asbestos in the house you shouldn’t disturb it as the particles etc can get into clothes. When buying secondhand clothes should I be worried that they might have asbestos in them from peoples homes or is this just absolutely absurd level of worry? Thanks in advance!

Absurd. If you're going to worry about asbestos then you might also like to worry about: bedbugs, moths, fleas, scabies and nits, to name but a few. Just give them a wash before you wear them.

Maybe don't buy any second hand plasterer's overalls 😀

I think this is very much an over reaction and it would never occur to me

It's completely absurd! Just forget about it. Unless it's a worker's clothes from decades ago.

Absolutely OTT. That's all.

Thank you! Sometimes with anxiety it’s good to sense check stuff and I had already thought I was probably being ludicrous!

As someone with anxiety, it's good when you can start rationalising this yourself - for there to be asbestos fibres in any clothes, they would have to come from a house with asbestos, AND that asbestos would have had to be disturbed in order to release fibres, AND that asbestos was disturbed in a way that the fibres weren't contained (asbestos removal is by specialist companies to stop release of fibres), AND the fibres were released in sufficient quantities to get on to every day clothes (likely ones sat away in a wardrobe or drawer as they weren't weren't worn enough so were put on vinted), AND the clothes were in a decent enough state to resell (ie not covered in dust). Needing all those things to be aligned makes it a vanishingly small (ie non-existant) risk that asbestos is on second hand clothes. It's also worth thinking about how legislated the UK is, if there was credible danger from asbestos in second hand clothes, then nothing like charity shops or ebay or vinted would exist.

Absurd. Have you spoken to your GP about your anxiety? Meds saved me.

Asbestos is a little different from other conditions that may plague thrifted items because (1) it's not reliably detectable without a lab test and (2) washing or even dry cleaning doesn't remove it. Some clothing items (not just work gear) were made with asbestos up until the late '70s and it's also possible for clothing to be contaminated by exposure to asbestos. Back when working on sites with exposed asbestos was routine, a whole household's clothing could be contaminated if the worker's clothing was washed improperly/along with other non-work clothes, or even from direct body contact with textiles, furniture, other household members, etc. while wearing the work clothes.

The UK has had a full asbestos ban since 1999 (and the EU since 2005) and awareness and precautions started in the late '70s/early '80s, so your risk with secondhand items from the last thirty years is minuscule; earlier it's still low but maybe more caution would make sense.

Don't be gaslit about anxiety though; it's a reasonable question and it IS a concern that comes up among people who deal professionally with secondhand textiles, perhaps more in places like the USA which have never had a full ban (although warning and containment requirements have been in place for decades).

Can you guarantee that clothing factories in China don't have asbestos? Might be safer to go around in the scuddy buff.