Asbestosis is found in people who have worked with it day in day out.  People who have had prolonged exposure to it, I wouldn't be worried.

The white asbestos, although isn't great is the weakest of them all.

Hello and thanks for your post

Many people worry about similar situations when they think they may have been exposed to asbestos.

Asbestos is still a very common substance and most people are exposed to a very small amount of asbestos fibres in their lives and yet asbestos related diseases are rare. So if you can, try not to be overly worried. It is regular occupational exposure to asbestos over many years that is known to increase the risk of lung disease and cancer, often two or three decades later.

It's worth bearing in mind that practically everyone is exposed to asbestos and that low levels are present in our environment as it can be found in air and soil and yet very few people become ill. 

According to the Health and Safety Executive (which is really about health and safety at work), short term exposures with asbestos will most likely have led to minimal exposure to fibres and is very unlikely to have any long-term ill health effects.

You can also read more about this on the British Lung Cancer Foundation website.

I hope this helps and remember you can always ring the GP if you are still concerned.

Best wishes,

Celene

Thank you so much for both of your help on this. It does make us feel better. It's just so scary as we did the work, hoovered up (with a normal hoover which I found out was wrong) and then slept in there later (after leaving the windows open). We're so worried that these extra factors will lead into it being a much larger risk. There's so little info online that doesn't just say 'Yes it's bad, and get a professional in'. It's too late for that now so we're just worried about the risk to ourselves and our children.

as a nurse of 30 years I've seen only one case of asbestos and this was a very old man who had worked over 40 years with asbestos x 

please don't be worried xx 

Thank you so much for the information Celene. That's really helped! And Clastegra thank you so much as well - putting it in that respect has really calmed our nerves.

One last question - I know vacuuming with a regular vacuum isn't recommended but will that have made our exposure a lot worse? If anyone could answer that?

Thanks everyone so much again! 

Hello and thank you for your further post

Using a normal household vacuum may have briefly increased the amount of airborne asbestos fibres at the time, but it is very unlikely to have significantly increased overall exposure or future lung cancer risk, particularly as this appears to have been a one‑off during decorating.

As Celene has already mentioned, short‑term, low‑level asbestos exposures typically result in minimal fibre exposure and are not associated with long‑term health effects.

I hope this helps and offers some reassurance.

Jemma

Came across this post due to worries of my own about artex removal and wondered what you had done following posting and had you allayed your concerns ? I’m finding it difficult to get past all my negative concerns just now and looking for some reassurance 

Hello and thank you for posting.

As it has been a while since this thread has been posted on, I thought I would send you a response.

I am sorry you are worried about your exposure to artex. Do read further about asbestos exposure and your risk of cancer on our website.

As you will see from my colleagues previous responses, regular exposure to asbestos is known to increase the risk of lung disease and cancer, but very few people become ill.

Asbestos related diseases, like mesothelioma, are rare.

The Health and Safety Executive website (which is really about health and safety at work), says that short term exposures with asbestos are very unlikely to have any long-term ill health effects. 

If you are still concerned do make an appointment to talk your worries through with your GP, as these health anxieties can become overwhelming.

Take care and if you would like to chat with the nurses on the helpline do call 0808 800 4040. Lines are open mon-fri, 9-5.

Sarah.

Hi,

First of all a big thank you to Clastegra, Nurse Celene, Nurse Jemma and Nurse Sarah. Your replies really did help when I was extremely anxious!

Hi Westie_5, I can completely relate to how anxious you must be feeling. It was completely consuming me when I was worrying about this a couple of months ago. So as well as reading the Nurses replies above I also contacted an asbestos specialist and my doctor.

The doctor told me that the exposure I had been given was considered very minimal and that it was extremely unlikely that I I would develop anything sinister later down the line. My doctor reminded me that many workers work with asbestos everyday and are exposed to higher volumes than what is present in artex and still serious illness is rare for even them.

The asbestos specialist also really put my mind at rest. Artex (if it contains asbestos at all) usually only contains a very small amount of asbestos, usually about 1-4%. The asbestos fibres if they are present are bonded into the rest of the material that makes up the artex so even if you chip it or break it less asbestos fibres would be released into the air. And finally artex contains white abestos or chrysotile. This is considered one of the less dangerous forms of asbestos fibre. Because of it's nature they are far more likely to be caught by the hairs that protect your lungs if breathed in or dissolved by your lungs natural cleaning processes. A one time job removing or cleaning up artex would be considered an extremely low risk event. The asbestos specialist said I had more than likely inhaled more asbestos walking past a building site in the past.

I also looked up some of the reports made by the HSE (as mentioned by Nurse Sarah above). The amount of asbestos that would be floating around from removing artex from a ceiling is going to be less than the daily allowed exposure for workman. But let's just say you did inhale more than a daily workman, you would have to be exposed to it everyday for a year or more before your risk would be considered a worry.

A couple of other facts that helped put things into perspective for me. People breath in asbestos everyday - especially if you live in the city. It's a natural occurring substance that comes from rocks. Also asbestos was commonly used in break pads years ago so many people would have breathed in fibres just from being around traffic. Again despite all of this serious illness is very rare.

I saw you mentioned not knowing how much cleaning up was enough. If you've had windows open it's likely the hairs have been taken outside by now. If it was workman doing the removal of the artex it's likely them coming in and out would have dispersed much of it too. If you are worried though you can book in an asbestos specialist to do an air check to see what the levels are like. I was quoted around £200. I told the asbestos specialist that I had even hoovered up with a regular hoover (which they say not to do) and they still weren't worried at all. They told me to open windows to the area and shut inside doors so the air currents carry the hairs outside instead of around the house. 

Above all though I would say try not to worry. We're exposed to possibly harmful substances everyday of our lives. Worrying about situations like this will do more harm than the event itself.

I hope that helps a bit and do talk to your doctor as Nurse Sarah has recommended, not because they're going to tell you anything bad, but because they can put your mind at rest.