How do you identify asbestos?

Answer 1

Asbestos containing objects, like gloves and heating pads, can be placed in a closed bag and discarded in most jurisdictions. In some places you may need to label the bag as containing asbestos and send it to a landfill that accepts asbestos waste. If building materials such as ceiling tile, pipe insulation, floor tile, roofing materials, etc., contain asbestos, the process of getting rid of it is more complex. Usually some form of enclosure is set up around the area from which the materials are to be removed and wetted processes are used to reduce and control production of dust. Waste is double bagged, sealed, cleaned on the outside, specially marked and taken by specially qualified and equipped waste haulers to designated landfills. The enclosure may be kept under negative pressure with special fans, and a closeout inspection and testing is required to confirm the area has been properly cleaned before the enclosure is removed. Usually all this work must be planned and performed by people who have been trained to deal with asbestos and have certificates or licenses from the government to do so. Untrained people should not remove asbestos building materials, no matter how simple it may seem to them because:

1) through lack of knowledge and experience they may do it wrong and contaminate the building, requiring substantial costs to clean it up, and

2) doing so is usually against the law and in some cases has resulted in criminal prosecution.

Answer 2

The only reliable way to identify asbestos in a material is by submitting a sample of the material to laboratory for inspection under a Polorised Light Microscope (PLM) by a qualified and trained technician. You may be lucky and find the word 'asbestos' on the product or material, in the absence of this, a material of unknown origin or composition that might contain asbestos should always be presumed to contain asbestos until proven otherwise.

Answer 3

How asbestos is cleaned up is driven in part by the regulations that local authorities have put in place. these regulations may require government notification in advance of any work, use oftrained and certified workers, hiring only of asbestos-licensed contracting firms, among other things. In general, the area is closed off with plastic barriers and ventilated through HEPA filters. Workers wear complete, disposable body coverings and filtering respirators. The asbestos containing material is wetted thoroughly before removal and placed in bags immediately upon removal. The bags are sealed, bagged themselves, and cleaned before being removed form the work area. Workers strip and shower before leaving the work area. All water from the work area is filtered before before being released to the sewers. The work area is hand-wiped on all surfaces and dried before air samples are collected to confirm airborne asbestos levels are sufficiently low, and only then is the work area enclosure removed, bagged and discarded.

Answer 4

There are some palliative treatments for asbestos-related disease, there is no treatment for asbestos, per se.

If you have lung cancer that resulted from asbestos exposure, the treatment is the same as for any other lung cancer - surgery possibly followed by radiation or chemotherapy.

If you have asbestosis, the treatment is the same as for other lung scarring diseases - avoid excessive exertion and eventually, use bottled oxygen

If you have mesothelioma, there is no treatment.