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Asbestos anxiety

alison76
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I suffer from terrible asbestos anxiety and live at home with 2 young girls.

 

We had some building work done and an asbestos survey as we knew there were crysotile tiles in the kitchen floor. After having those removed professionally we needed some more work done and the builder chisselled through a random piece of AIB board that was in my daughters room whilst carrying out unplanned ' emergency' work. It was a padding between two bricks. There was a 1foot square hole in the floorboard directly beneath and the room below had no wall on the back so well ventilated. Unfortunately the room was full of my daughter's stuff as everything from the building works was piled up in there. I cleaned the carpet and had a company wipe down the room but I'm very worried about our exposure! Thankfully we were not in the house for the two weeks when this work was being done. We had air tests done whilst the room was being cleaned which came back as safe.
 

 I also picked up a few random lumps of rock from the garden and am concerned that one piece that was thin,smooth and grey might have been asbestos. I don't know if I/we have been exposed to a critical amount and don't know how to feel safe in my house. Is this enough exposure to get cancer? What else can I do? 

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    Hello Alison76,

    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 read more about this by clicking here.

    I hope this will reassure you a little but if you feel like the anxiety is taking over and you need to talk to someone about your fears, don't hesitate to give your GP a call just to get the reassurance you need.

    Best wishes, 

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

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