This page will give you a short overview of asbestos and asbestos related problems while, hopefully, quashing some of the more stupid (and perhaps even dangerous) myths about asbestos.

WARNING: I am not a professional asbestos consultant, I have mearly done quite a bit of reading on the subject. Before doing any asbestos work check out what I have said for yourself so that you are happy itis correct.

The first point I would like to make is that most asbestos is not that dangerous if correctly handled. That is not to say that it isn't dangerous - it is - but it isn't generally the threat it is made out to be. People do die every year because of exposure to asbestos (at least 3500 a year in the UK according to the HSE) but most of those are old and worked with asbestos in dangerous ways (and often with the more dangerous types of asbestos).

There are three main types of asbestos: crocidolite (blue), amosite (brown) and chrysotile (white). All are fiberous, naturally occuring minerals (from a minerology point of view they are fasinating) that are highly resistant to heat, fire and corrosive chemicals - which makes them useful building materials. Dispite what you might read elsewhere you can't tell if you have asbestos in your home by just examining the suspected material. High powered microscopes are required to visulize the fibers and even then it is sometimes difficult and requires further analysis by x-ray diffraction. Another myth is that if a material is suspected to contain asbestos and it is brown it must contain brown asbestos. That is not the case - asbestos is normally present in fairly small quantities and so doesn't nornally dictate the colour of the material. Even if it is in large quantites different specimines of asbestos can have different colours. White asbestos can look brown for instance. As a rule of thumb white asbestos is much safer than blue or brown (both of which have been banned in the UK since the mid 1980s) but it's still dangerous.

Asbestos was used quite extensivly in the UK between about 1950 and 1985 and most of it is still in place. In the vast majority of cases just leave it where it is don't be tempted into thinking that it needs removing - it doesn't - if you leave it alone it, generally, won't cause you any problems. Removing asbestos, on the other hand, can cause problems and is sometimes a difficult job. Even if the job isn't difficult it will be very expensive.

Probably the two most common places to find asbestos in the home are old artex ceilings and garage roofs. Artex, up until about 1980, somtimes contained white asbestos as a filler but it was fairly rare (very infrequently you can get Artex that contains blue and or brown asbestos - that's more of a problem). Garage roofs are quite commonly asbestos cement / board which is normally a grey material often smooth on one side and dimpled on the other.

Asbestos is a problem when fibers are being released in to the air. Even a little bit of movement can cause quite large numbers of fibers to be released if the asbestos is very friable (loose and prone to floating away). Probably the most dangerous uses of asbestos was as pipe insulation where the asbestos was used in a form that looks like loft insulation. Over time it breaks down and floats around - fortunatly very few houses contain asbestos in this form. Drilling or cutting asbestos board or sanding Artex off are probably the two most likely hazardous situations that you will face - neither should be done. If you must remove Artex use a wet aretex remover. If you must drill or cut asbestos board do so upwind and make sure the board and everything around you is wet and there is a constant mist while you are working. It's best to just not do it.

Encapsulation of asbestos is one solution to the problem. Generally this means coating it or boxing it in. Painting an Artex ceiling can, for instance, help prevent fibres being released.