What You Should Know If You Find Asbestos

Throughout history, humans have had a pattern of using materials that were prized for their abundance and utility, only to discover that they may in fact be doing more harm than good. The Romans used lead pipes, the British burned coal in their fireplaces, and before 1970, most North Americans insulated and fire-proofed their homes with asbestos. Today, the use of asbestos is banned because of its links to lung disease, including lung cancer.

Widespread asbestos removal programs have been in place all over Canada as efforts to retrofit older institutional buildings like schools or government offices that were built before 1970 with new insulation material. Asbestos can still persist in older homes as well, and necessary precautionary steps must be taken in order to mitigate the potential harm that asbestos exposure can cause.

First, if you suspect that your home may contain asbestos, don’t panic! The true danger of asbestos occurs when the building materials insulated with the substance are disturbed. Asbestos is a white or brown fibrous material that contains tiny crystals that can break up in the air if disturbed and gain entry into the respiratory tract. The crystals are actually composed of incredibly small fibres. These fibres can physically disrupt cellular processes like mitosis by becoming tangled or otherwise damaging the cells of the lung. This physical damage increases the onset of lung diseases. So as long as the material that you suspect is insulated with asbestos is left alone and the fibres don’t have an opportunity to be inhaled, you are not in any immediate danger.

Once you do locate asbestos products in your home, you need to contact a professional who is certified to detect, handle, and remove asbestos safely and effectively from your home. Asbestos functions by acute exposure to the respiratory system, meaning that you will not notice its presence or effects until it’s too late. Proper removal of asbestos requires specialized equipment that the typical homeowner simply doesn’t have access to. Additionally, attempting to remove the asbestos yourself without proper training can actually worsen the severity of exposure that you receive from the asbestos in your home, which just adds to the list of reasons why you need a professional to take care of the job. A company like Matrix Remediations offers certified technicians that are specially trained and equipped to remove asbestos, and they even offer a 20 year guarantee on their work.

Asbestos identification is quite easy, but the detection of it can be quite problematic, as that would entail looking for asbestos, which would run the risk of disturbing asbestos deposits in your home and triggering the release of dangerous fibres. If you suspect that your home may still contain asbestos, contact a professional remediation organization like Matrix Remediation. Their trained professionals will be able to properly identify and remove asbestos deposits in your home and ensure safety for all involved. Contact Matrix Remediation today to receive a free quote on asbestos removal.