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Asbestos Awareness FAQs

What is Asbestos?

Why is Asbestos Dangerous?

The Stages of Mesothelioma

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8 Weird Facts You Might Not Know About Asbestos

Why the cosmetics industry still struggles with asbestos

Is the UK doing enough to prevent asbestos exposure?

Is the United States really allowing new uses of asbestos?

Why silica dust is the new asbestos

Does asbestos in schools really pose a risk?

How the ‘green revolution’ could be halted by asbestos

As an Asbestos Awareness training provider and asbestos consultant, we often get questions about asbestos. Given how dangerous it can be, people often want to know how to identify asbestos and what they should do with it, from asbestos in Artex ceilings to boiler and loft insulation.

Below we’ve compiled some of the most commonly asked questions we receive about asbestos, its properties, common places to find it, and how to remove it safely. If there’s anything you want to know that isn’t listed below, check our blog or consider taking our Asbestos Awareness course.

 

Asbestos Awareness (Course Link)

1. Can I remove asbestos myself?
2. What are the asbestos removal regulations in the UK?
3. How do I get an asbestos licence?
4. Where should I dispose of asbestos?
5. What are the safe asbestos exposure limits?
6. What does asbestos look like? How can I recognise asbestos?

 

Can I remove asbestos myself?

Removing asbestos yourself without the proper training and equipment is extremely inadvisable, and its legality depends on the nature and scale of the work in question.

Any work with asbestos is likely to mandate the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), respiratory protective equipment (RPE) and H-type vacuums. Even screwing or attaching fixtures to an Artex ceiling containing asbestos is best performed by a trained professional.

Most minor maintenance work can be undertaken legally without a licence. However, work on many kinds of asbestos is designated as notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW), and must meet stringent requirements. These include:

• Notifying the Health & Safety Executive (HSE)
• Designating the location of the asbestos
• Carrying out medical examinations
• Keeping health records

 

What are the asbestos removal regulations in the UK?

Asbestos has been banned for use in all UK construction projects since 2000. As a result, asbestos removal regulations are stringent, with limits dependent on the scale of the project, the type of asbestos, and the stability of the asbestos in question, both before and after removal.

Asbestos repair and removal projects fall into three categories:

Licensable work must be carried out by a licensed surveyor, and generally involves unstable asbestos, or asbestos which is sanded or broken up. This includes:

• Pipe lagging
• Loose fill insulation
• Spray coatings (limpet asbestos)
• Millboard

Notifiable non-licensable work (NNLW) can be carried out without a licence, but will involve notifying local authorities and a requisite health check. This includes:

• Insulating boards
• Large scale textured coatings
• Roof coatings
• Insulation

Non-licensable work can be carried out without notification or a licence, but all available precautions should be taken. This includes:

• Small scale textured coatings (e.g. drilling)
• Sealing or decorating good condition asbestos
• Intact removal of cement and ceiling products
• Moving and minor repair of asbestos insulating boards (AIB)

 

How do I get an asbestos licence?

An asbestos licence can only be acquired by individuals intending to perform licensable work. The application process involves three steps:

1. Complete and return the HSE’s ASB1 application form
2. Undergo assessment
3. Receive feedback from HSE
   • If successful, receive licence
   • If unsuccessful, implement advice & reapply

Dangerous goods and asbestos awareness training differ from an asbestos licence, and are required for individuals transporting and/or working with asbestos in any capacity.

Individuals undertaking non-licensable work or wishing to better understand the effects of asbestos are also recommended to take our asbestos awareness course.

 

Where should I dispose of asbestos?

Materials with more than 0.1% asbestos content are considered either hazardous or special waste around the UK, and are subject to stringent regulations.

The relevant materials must be double-bagged, with a UN-approved red inner bag and clear outer bag. Relevant asbestos warnings should be clearly displayed on the outer bag.

Individuals can dispose of the asbestos at many local household waste recycling plants, although your local council should have a complete list. Businesses are generally expected to process their asbestos with the help of a licensed asbestos stripping company.

Fibrous (i.e. loose or unbonded) asbestos is also regulated by the Carriage of Dangerous Goods (CDG) Act. All drivers and crew involved in the transport and handling of asbestos must have received dangerous good awareness training, and all bags must be additionally labelled as CDG compliant.

‘Firmly bound’ asbestos which is not likely to release fibres is exempt from CDG, and is not considered dangerous for transport.Transported asbestos must be stored in a sealed compartment, such as a lockable skip or van load compartment.

Quantities above 333kg or 1000kg (depending on the variety of asbestos) require additional driver training and vehicle markings, among other restrictions.

 

What are the safe asbestos exposure limits?

There is no safe asbestos exposure limit. When you inhale asbestos, the microscopic fibres become embedded deep in your lungs, causing irritation and permanent scarring to your cells.

The more you are exposed to asbestos, the more damage it will do. This cell damage can eventually cause the mutations that lead to certain cancers, particularly mesothelioma. Heavy exposure can also lead to the condition asbestosis, which results from severe lung damage.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that most asbestos-related diseases occur as a result of prolonged exposure as a child, or over an extended period of years. Asbestos related diseases often do not manifest themselves for thirty years or more after initial exposure, with many victims originating from careers which involved direct and frequent contact with asbestos.

 

What does asbestos look like? How can I recognise asbestos?

Asbestos is a naturally occurring, fibrous mineral. There are six varieties of asbestos which earn their names from their distinctive colours. The most common are often referred to as blue asbestos, white asbestos and brown asbestos. The other three types were uncommon for commercial use.

These varieties of asbestos were used in the manufacture of around 3000 products until the 1950s, 60s and 70s, when the dangers became more widely known. Because of its fire resistant properties, asbestos continued to be used as a building material until the 1990s.

It was only completely banned in the UK in 2000, and continues to be used in some constructions in the US, although no new uses for asbestos are allowed. While raw asbestos is easy to identify by its stringy, fibrous texture, the wide variety of uses for asbestos mean it is difficult to identify by sight alone.

The best way to identify asbestos is to consider the age of a product or construction, and check the use of asbestos in that object or construction type during the period. If in doubt, have a certified surveyor check it. Air quality tests and laboratory analysis can easily determine the quantity of asbestos, and risk of exposure.

Some formerly common uses of asbestos include:

• Artex wall and ceiling textures
• Wall and ceiling insulation
• External sheds and garages
• Vinyl floor tiles
• Fire doors and blankets
• Building cladding
• Roof tarring and tiling
• Industrial talc

 

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that is usually caused by exposure to asbestos. According to Mesothelioma UK around 2,500 people are diagnosed with this asbestos cancer every year.

People who have been exposed to asbestos are potentially at risk of mesothelioma, however the majority of people who have been exposed to asbestos dust never suffer any ill health. >Read more about why asbestos is dangerous and the illnesses it can cause here.

Mesothelioma facts

• Mesothelioma is more common in men than in women
• Nearly half of all people diagnosed with mesothelioma are over the age of 75
• There are two types of mesothelioma
  • Pleural mesothelioma – in the chest
  • Peritoneal mesothelioma – in the abdomen

What is mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the mesothelium, which is the membrane that forms the lining of the chest wall, where it’s known as the pleura, and the abdomen, where it is known as the peritoneum.

Pleural mesothelioma is far more common than pleural mesothelioma, with a ratio of 12 to 1.

Stages of mesothelioma

How far cancer has spread is referred to as stages. Knowing what stage cancer is at helps doctors to decide on what treatment is needed. Unfortunately, most people who are diagnosed with mesothelioma have an advanced stage of cancer and the prognosis is not good.

It is difficult for medical professionals to stage mesothelioma because the tumour is not often measurable.

Pleural mesothelioma stages

As pleural mesothelioma is the most common form of mesothelioma there is an internationally recognised staging system; the International Mesothelioma Interest Group (IMIG) system. The IMIG system is based on the generic TNM system. The staging system is used to describe; the size and position of the mesothelioma primary tumour (T), whether the cancerous cells have spread to nearby lymph nodes (N), and whether the mesothelioma cells have spread to elsewhere in the body, known as metastases (M). This information is used to give a stage: stage 1 is the earliest and stage 4 the most advanced.

Stage 1a mesothelioma

The cancer is only affecting the outer layer of pleura around the chest wall and only on one side of the chest. The tumour may have grown into the pleura tissue that covers the diaphragm.

Stage 1b mesothelioma

Mesothelioma has begun to spread into the pleural layer closest to the lungs on one side of the chest. Stage 1b mesothelioma has not spread into the lung tissue or diaphragm.

Stage 2 mesothelioma

Stage 2 is when the cancer has spread to both layers of the pleura on one side of the chest. It will have got big enough to form a tumour mass within the pleural tissue surrounding the lungs and started to spread into the diaphragm muscle or the lung tissue.

Stage 3 mesothelioma

The mesothelioma has spread to the chest wall or heart covering (pericardium), and may still be removable by surgery. Stage 3 may alternatively mean that the mesothelioma has spread to the lymph nodes on the same side of the chest.

Stage 4 mesothelioma

At the most advanced stage of mesothelioma, the cancer has spread too far to be operable.

This image from the American Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance illustrates the four stages:

Mesothelioma Tumor Progression

Image courtesy of the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance.

Peritoneal mesothelioma stages

There is only one case of peritoneal mesothelioma for every 12 cases of pleural mesothelioma. Due to its rarity, there is no specific staging system for this type of mesothelioma. If it’s staged it’s likely to be done according to the TNM system that’s used for other types of cancers.

Click here to take a look at our Asbestos Awareness Online Course.

To find out more about mesothelioma, take a look at the Mesothelioma Prognosis Network – An advocacy group working to spread the awareness of asbestos related diseases. The organisation works with people affected by asbestos related illnesses to help find local doctors, treatment centres and support groups.

 

Asbestos is a general term for a group of minerals, which are made up of microscopic fibres. In the past, it was widely used in construction, as well as a number of other domestic and commercial purposes.

Nowadays asbestos can prove to be one of the most dangerous things for a person to encounter, particularly for those in the construction industries. Perhaps one of the most worrying aspects is that it can take many years for people who worked in these sectors to experience asbestos-related illness when they are older.

Many people today think that they are free from the risks associated with asbestos, as it has been banned for many years. However, the NHS advise that asbestos still remains in many buildings even today, with an estimated half a million buildings still thought to contain asbestos. This means it can still pose a risk to present day workers.

 

Eliminating asbestos

Asbestos is found in three main forms: amosite, crocidolite and chrysotile. These are usually known as brown, blue and white asbestos. Brown and blue asbestos are the more dangerous types, and have been banned in the UK since 1985. White asbestos was only banned in 1999.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 came into force in April 2012, as a response to concerns by the European Commission that the UK had not fully implemented the EU Directive regarding exposure to asbestos. This update means that even some types of non-licensed asbestos work now have additional requirements, such as medical surveillance, record keeping and notification of work.

 

Who is at risk?

According to the Health and Safety Executive, as many as 20 tradespeople a week could be dying from asbestos damage to their lungs. The people who are most at risk from asbestos-related conditions are often workers who have been involved in refurbishment, maintenance and other similar trades.

Some job roles within these at-risk sectors include:

• Plasterers
• Roofing contractors
• Carpenters and joiners
• Demolition workers
• Shop fitters
• Construction workers
• Architects and building surveyors
• Cable layers
• General maintenance staff

Where do you find asbestos?

Asbestos is found in both industrial and residential buildings which were built or refurbed before the year 2000. Asbestos can be found in many common materials in the building trade, including asbestos insulating board, lagging, asbestos cement products and sprayed coatings.

In an industrial setting, asbestos can be found in areas including AIB (Asbestos Insulating Board) partition walls, AIB ceiling tiles, vinyl flooring tiles, loose fill insulation, asbestos cement water tanks and even in certain textiles, such as fire blankets. Asbestos can also be found outdoors, such as in soffits and asbestos cement roofs or panels.

In residential homes asbestos can still be an issue. It can be present in pipe lagging, toilet seats and cisterns and in textured decorative coatings like artex. AIB can also be found around boilers, in partition walls, behind fuse boxes, in ceiling tiles and in bath panels.

 

Asbestos fact sheet

Want to know more about asbestos? Here are some asbestos facts:

• Asbestos kills around 5000 workers each year, which is higher than the number of people killed on the road.
• Asbestos is a naturally-occurring material which is mined from the earth.
• Figures show that around 20 tradesman die each week as a result of past exposure to asbestos.
• In the United States asbestos is the number one cause of occupational cancer, even though it has not been actively used for 30 years.
• Asbestos can be present in any modern building built or refurbished before the year 2000.
• It is thought that most asbestos-related lung cancers can take between 15 and 35 years from the time of exposure for the disease to develop.
• Asbestos was once used in a number of consumer products, including toasters and hair dryers.
• In the USA it is thought that around 200,000 are living with asbestosis.

 

What can asbestos cause?

Asbestosis

According to the NHS, asbestosis is a long term chronic lung disease which is caused by prolonged exposure to asbestos. Breathing in asbestos fibres can lead to scarring of the lungs on some people, causing symptoms like wheezing, fatigue, shortness of breath and a persistent cough.

Asbestosis can get worse over time, and people with asbestosis do unfortunately have an increased risk of developing other related conditions, such as the ones mentioned below. More often than not, these related illnesses are more likely to cause death than the asbestosis itself.

Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a cancer of the cells that make up the membrane covering the outer surface of most of our organs, known as the mesothelial cells. Symptoms include chest or lower back pain, a high temperature, a persistent cough and shortness of breath.

Mesothelioma is shown to be five times more likely in men than in women, with over 2,500 people diagnosed in the UK each year. It is almost always caused by asbestos exposure, although it often develops many years after the exposure occurred – up to 60 years after.

Unfortunately the outlook for the condition is not good, as it is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage. Chemotherapy is the main form of treatment, although these treatments are often based on controlling the symptoms for as long as possible.

Find out more about the stages of mesothelioma.

Pleural thickening

Pleural thickening is a lung disease where the pleura, the thin membrane covering the lung, becomes scarred. As scar tissue builds up it can close off the space between the lungs and the pleura, with this causing chest pain and a loss in breathing function.

This condition is one of the most commonly diagnosed asbestos exposure-related illnesses, as the asbestos fibres can become lodged in the pleura when they’re breathed in. This causes inflammation, and triggers the build up of this worrying scar tissue.

Asbestos-related lung cancer

In the UK, over 41,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year. It is one of the most serious types of cancer, and unfortunately one of the most common. In the early stages there are often no symptoms, but this can develop into coughing up blood, persistent coughing or breathlessness or aches and pains when breathing.

It has been found that people who have been exposed to certain substances can develop a higher likelihood of contracting lung cancer, with asbestos being one of the substances on this list.

 

Working with asbestos

It is illegal to import, supply and use all forms of asbestos in the UK. However, there are still many buildings which contain this harmful material, so it’s important to understand how to stay safe.

It’s vital to evaluate and identify whether it’s likely that asbestos will be present before you begin working in a new location. In non-domestic premises the people responsible for maintenance should provide you with all information about the location and condition of any asbestos in the building as part of their duty to manage the asbestos in that building. If this information is not provided and you suspect that asbestos may be present then you should order the area to be surveyed, and for the material you will be working on to be tested. Or, assume that asbestos is present and automatically prepare for the highest risk situation.

You should understand and evaluate when the work needs to be carried out by a licensed contractor. This includes most asbestos removal work, as well as working with sprayed asbestos coatings and lagging and most insulation and AIB situations. Use this information from the Health and Safety Executive to help find a licensed contractor, or to become licensed yourself.

Even if the work doesn’t need to be carried out by a licensed contractor, you do still need to make sure that everyone who is working in the vicinity of the asbestos, or who is likely to disturb it during their day-to-day role, is fully trained. If you’re an employer then you need to make sure that your staff protect themselves and those around them. This is where SAMS Ltd can help.

 

Asbestos Awareness courses from SAMS Ltd

Here at SAMS we can provide you and your employees with the opportunity to take the UKATA Asbestos Awareness course through both our excellent e-Learning programmes and traditional classroom-based courses. The course can help you to understand the dangers of asbestos when you unknowingly come into contact with these airborne asbestos fibres, as well as learning how to minimise the risk of exposure during our classroom sessions.