Worried asbestos exposure from damaged artex

[Worriedmum40]

Hi, I just wondered if anyone could help?

I've gotten myself in a complete panic and suffering the worst anxiety.

We live a house that was built in 1995. About 6/7 years ago we had a flood in our loft from the boiler. One of the plumbers that came to fix it ended up putting his foot through the ceiling that is in my little ones built in wardrobe. All the ceilinging upstairs have artex on them. Therefore he had a big hole in his ceiling and a lot of the artex came down going all over his clothes and all in the wardrobe.

We still haven't sorted this out, just put a board over it in the loft. I've only just found out that there is a possibility that the ceilings could contain asbestos. He still has the hole and the artex his hanging off.

We have sent off for a kit to test it but I'm beyond panicking that my child has been sleeping in a room for all of these years and also had clothing that could have had fibers on it. I can't remember if I washed them at the time.

I've moved him out of the room until the test is done but I'm so worried it's too little too late.

Does anyone know the likely hood that the artex will contain asbestos. It's a David Wilson Homes house built in 1995.

Any help would be very much appreciated. Currently going insane with worry and anxiety 😭

[Marchsnowstorms]

Artex isn't worth getting worried about overall, but it's defo a risk tk electricians etc

[Marchsnowstorms]

5000 a year yes is a tiny % but a big number. I agree that a tiny bit of exposure potentially to a tiny bit of art

[Blurpy]

Great post @Horace23 !

[Horace23]

So, re the posts above, as I understand it there's an issue with getting tradesmen who may routinely encounter asbestos to take it seriously as (generalising) they tend to be blasé, and reassuring people who may have had a one off exposure which clearly is a much lower risk, but induces panic.

I've copied the below from a post elsewhere which I have found helpful in a similar situation. Its long but Hope it helps you OP...

"Having said that, I had some genuinely false beliefs about asbestos. When I addressed these beliefs, it helped me get the fear under control and stop it from spiralling. I will need to undergo ERP therapy to deal with it properly but at least I got my life back for now.

Pre-emptively: Unless you have been working 10-hour shifts every day surrounded by clouds of asbestos dust you will not develop asbestosis. Documentaries like "the dust at acre mill" show what kind of conditions people who developed this disease were working in.

Firstly: "All it takes is 1 fibre" is a lie. Asbestos occurs naturally in our environment and on average we breathe in around 5000 fibres each day. The idea that you can live completely asbestos free is not scientifically possible. In EU law, for example, the occupational asbestos limit is 0.01 fibres/cm³. Notice that number is not 0. There is always a background level of asbestos fibres. Sometimes it will rise above the average, sometimes it will drop below. Say a construction worker really was covered in asbestos dust and brushed past you, the amount you would get exposed to on the few occasions in your life that happens would never be enough to harm you. The level of exposure simply wouldn't rise very high above the background level and it wouldn't rise for long enough.

Sometimes it's easy to forget just how reckless people were with the stuff in the past. The scary messages were designed to make people aware of the danger, change people's attitudes and get them to take sensible precautions. Asbestos is bad; we shouldn't saw it in a garage with no mask on but it also isn't plutonium; we shouldn't worry about coming into contact with tiny amounts.

Secondly: Previous generations had much greater exposure to asbestos than ours and they are not dying en masse. A common memory amongst boomers here in the UK is how the heatproof mats in high school chemistry lessons were made of asbestos and had frayed edges. Also, in DIY and construction, people used to drill into artex (popcorn) ceilings and walls and cut asbestos-cement roofing to size + bolt it down without PPE or any real precautions. Asbestos used to be put in all sorts of household products. People didn't know it was dangerous and didn't take care when handling it. Bear this in mind when reading the next point.

Thirdly: The rate of asbestos disease is tiny.

Consider this: Here in the UK we have a higher rate of asbestos disease than average due to our heavy use of amosite (brown asbestos), but the disease rate is still very low. To be specific, I'm talking 2,379 mesothelioma cases each year out of a population of almost 70 million (67,330,000) The ratio of men to women in these statistics shows you that most cases are the result of occupational exposure (i.e. males working in professions that came into contact with a lot of asbestos). In 2021, out of a total of 2,379 mesothelioma cases, 1,945 were males and 434 were females. The number who caught it from casual exposure is tiny. And just to reiterate... all of these statistics are hangovers from a time when asbestos regulation didn't really exist.

About contamination: I struggle a lot with the idea of contamination myself and things being "ruined" as a result of asbestos contamination. But it is important to remember that the fear is not rooted in reality.

If something gets contaminated with asbestos fibres, it is not like that forever. From the point of exposure, the amount of contamination continually reduces. The time taken for the fibres to disappear entirely may be as little as a few hours up to a few weeks. In any case, the danger from asbestos is not in contaminated items such as clothes, where it would be very difficult for an individual fibre to travel upwards and into your mouth as you move around. The danger comes from disturbing an asbestos-containing source and releasing fibres into the air where they can be breathed in.

Asbestos is such a tricky thing to deal with in OCD but I hope this helps a bit."

[Marchsnowstorms]

HSE are constantly running campaigns to educate people. Around 5000 people a year still die due to exposure and 20 tradesmen a year (or ex). So whilst continued and larger exposure is a bigger risk @QueenCamilla you are wrong. And yes electricians are a high risk group for this.
OP as others have said, you'd have washed stuff at the time

[QueenCamilla]

@SlipSlidinAway

That's simply not true.

"Simply", it is true.
You have to inhale or ingest asbestos for it to lodge in the tissues. The greatest risk for that is airborne asbestos and repeated and/or prolonged exposure.

So, so many people would have been exposed to at least some shape or form of Asbestos in their lifetime.
We are not all dropping dead from it.
Definitely would have no electricians left around.

I'm not saying it's not dangerous stuff, just pointing out that not all exposure is equal.

We are more at risk at our carpet gasses these days...

[SlipSlidinAway]

@QueenCamilla

You'd have to be present in a cloud of falling Asbestos dust to inhale any health-threatening amount.
I wouldn't worry.

That's simply not true.

[Blurpy]

Don't panic. Plenty of people handled the stuff regularly without any protective gear and are alive and well today. It was a small, one-off exposure (surely if the clothes were noticeably dusty, they would have either been washed or shaken off outside, so not likely that he's been regularly exposed since) and besides, there's nothing to do about it now.

[Marchsnowstorms]

@QueenCamilla

You'd have to be present in a cloud of falling Asbestos dust to inhale any health-threatening amount.
I wouldn't worry.

That's not actually correct. Exposure doesn't have to be huge if the person is suseptable. But by 1995 use was much much less so it's unlikely to be it and if it is, the fibres are likely to be bonded into it.

[LIZS]

Very unlikely in 1990s

[QueenCamilla]

You'd have to be present in a cloud of falling Asbestos dust to inhale any health-threatening amount.
I wouldn't worry.

[Surplus2requirements]

In addition to @Babdoc comment above you can be reassured that if the artex does contain asbestos it will be white and not blue which is a whole different level of risk.

Many have been trying to get white asbestos classified separately across Europe for quite a few years now as research has shown that its risk is no different to any other hard material dust. It hasn't happened because its removal and disposal is a major industry now with a powerful lobby.

Blue asbestos is a completely different animal but both come under the same regulations and consequent fear of contamination.

[Babdoc]

Asbestos free artex became available in 1976, but builders were still allowed to use the version containing 1-3% asbestos until 1999. If your ceilings date from 1995, it is more likely that they don’t contain asbestos, as the risk was well known by then.
You are doing the right thing getting it tested, but please don’t stress yourself in advance of the results. If the damaged ceiling is contained within a cupboard, it’s not exactly spraying heaps of fibres all over the room, nor is it being repeatedly disturbed or handled.
I think this is more down to your anxiety than to any significant risks to your child’s lungs, and I hope the results put your fears to rest.