Hello Beansbaked and welcome to Cancer Chat,

I understand that you would have some concerns given your experience with cancer. People who develop cancer due to asbestos exposure are often those who have worked with prolonged contact with broken asbestos (without protective clothing and equipment) over many years. It's unlikely that your husband would become ill from this one occasion, but you can find more information on asbestos and other risks of mesothelioma on our website. If you're worried that there could be asbestos in other areas of your house, the best thing to do is to speak to your surveyor or perhaps get advice from an asbestos surveyor specifically.

I hope this is helpful and gives you some reassurance,

Moderator Anastasia

Thank you very much for your kind reply. I spoke to my dr yesterday who said she thought my husbands exposure was low risk but how can it be? All my research online says he could have breathed in a huge amount of fibres which would make his risk high. No one else seems concerned about this which completely baffles me

I also read they used 10-20% of asbestos in this material, sometimes up to 70% around fireplaces, surely the percentage would also increase the risk.

ive spent so much time researching and being told differing views it’s difficult to be logical over this 

Because it was the one occasion, as opposed to prolonged exposure over many years, that makes the risk much lower. When you’re worried about cancer, it can be tempting to look for answers online, but this can end up increasing anxiety rather than making you feel better and some information online can be unhelpful and inaccurate. It's encouraging that your doctor also said there is low risk.

Please try not to worry and best wishes to you,

Moderator Anastasia

We are having a piece of the ceiling tested but I’m already sure it does contain asbestos I’m just not sure how much or what type but it’s going to be a lot higher than the usual 2-3% for artex. My other concern is the fibres could easily have come into the house contaminating the rooms when the door was opened and my daughter was home. What if she breathed lots in unknowingly? It’s one thing us breathing it in our 40s but she’s only in her teens, could this make her really ill in her 30s? 

I’m arranging some therapy through the nhs because I can’t bare the thought of putting her in danger 

We are having a piece of the ceiling tested but I’m already sure it does contain asbestos I’m just not sure how much or what type but it’s going to be a lot higher than the usual 2-3% for artex. My other concern is the fibres could easily have come into the house contaminating the rooms when the door was opened and my daughter was home. What if she breathed lots in unknowingly? It’s one thing us breathing it in our 40s but she’s only in her teens, could this make her really ill in her 30s? 

I’m arranging some therapy through the nhs because I can’t bare the thought of putting her in danger 

1.  Beansbaked Hi, I do hope that you are in a better place now and the therapy was helpful. I have had a recent exposure to potential asbestos in Artex following a plasterer scraping the points before plastering and struggling to move past it. I have cleaned endlessly and wondered what you did to mitigate against potential fibres in your house that had concerned you following your incident and did this help to ease your mind?

Hi Westie_5

im sorry to hear you are struggling with this. I know how awful it feels. I’m still waiting for nhs therapy unfortunately so had to arrange private therapy which helped massively. 

I’ve done a huge amount of research and spoken to many people who worked with asbestos. The amount in artex was tiny, 1-5 percent per 25kg bag. That bag covers a huge area, how big was your ceiling? I wouldn’t imagine it’s big enough to use a whole bag, of which 95% would be other materials IF it even contains asbestos.so imagine what tiny tiny amount could be in those points? It was be next to nothing. Easy for me to say but I wouldn’t worry. I wouldn’t have said that a few months ago but after thinking about it and speaking to professionals I’ve realised that nearly everyone who becomes ill has huge exposures for a long time. 

growing up there was artex on every ceiling and lots of walls in our home, most of which I can’t remember being removed but I know it wasn’t  done professionally, if it happened in our home it happened in lots and there’s not been a sudden mass of asbestos related illness 

Hi, thank you so much for your reassurances and taking the time to speak to me. I’m glad the therapy is helping and you are in a much better place.

i spoke with one of the nurses and also called my doctor today and they both reassured me that this has been a one off low exposure and not to worry unduly. This has been of great help and I’m feeling the least anxious I have been in weeks. They said to stick to reading over the comments from folk on here for reassurance and know that I’m not the only one who’s felt like this and the anxiety will become more manageable.

thank you!

Good morning, I’m glad you are starting to feel some relief. Please don’t google, it’s really not the right thing to do instead speak to professionals who deal with this stuff. Drs and nurses have people daily worrying over the same things as us. They see the results so trust what they say.  Tradesmen spent years mixing and scraping the stuff off before it was known to affect some people. People in the factories were covered in it and had exposure so much greater than ours and only a small amount of them became ill. Enjoy your life because worrying about this is not worth your time and energy and I can honestly say that. 

Hi, thanks again for your kind words. I’m looking over the forum today as I’ve had a bit of a wobble and trying to keep the anxiety down. I know it will get less intrusive as time goes on but too many other stresses in my life have knocked me back today. 
I suppose the thing that keeps me positive is knowing there are others out there with the same worries as myself but getting informed is key to managing it. 
Google is my undoing so have deleted all my search history and only keeping this forum open going forward.

Thank you for your support, it’s appreciated 

Hi, sorry you’re having a tough day. Are you sure the artex had asbestos in it? Speaking to people who worked with it I learnt that they knew the concerns in the early 80s from 1986 the actual brand artex stopped using asbestos in their mix. The newer the artex the less likely it even contained it. Plus like I said it was such a small amount contained in the pointes removed from your ceiling worrying about it is doing you more harm than the actual asbestos ever will.

It’s so easy for me to say this but I promise you I’ve been in your place, I actually removed it from one of my ceilings only a few years ago without even knowing, I was covered in the dust from it but for it to do me any harm I’d be very unlucky and there’s so much more that could harm me every day. Please stop googling and stop worrying

Thank you for your positive words, it really does help and I’ve managed to reframe my thoughts today after your check in and getting out in the sunshine a while. I hope you’ve had some good weather yourself today!

The worry is definitely doing more harm than good and I need to focus more on all the good things I have in my life and put it to rest.  I’m glad I’ve had the chance to chat with you and know it will get better as you have experienced the anxiety and are on the other side of it and helping people like myself!

Thank you so much for being there and taking the time , I appreciate it 

I wish I could help you more it’s such a horrible thing to worry about. If you find you really are struggling speak to your dr. I saw mine many times over this anxiety and she assured me that artex is EXTREMELY LOW RISK and asbestos related illness is rare. The last person she saw with it was 7 years ago and never in her career had she come across anyone who got sick from doing any DIY projects at home. It was always people who worked with it a lot. She told me in my place she wouldn’t worry so that really has to mean something like I explained to her I actually scrapped the stuff off the ceiling for a whole day without knowing what could be in it. I hope you start to feel better soon 

Hi, thanks again for checking in. I really am glad you take the time to speak with me and I’m hoping anyone else who checks in here can be equally reassured by your kindness.  
I’ve started on dealing with the anxiety and thankful you had the experience of a really good doctor who you are able to share advice from. This really helps me to rationalise when I feel the anxiety rise and I know I’m not the only one to feel like this and I will get past it.

One thing I’m struggling with at the moment though is that I no longer want to be in my house. Did you experience the same and have you any advice on how to deal with it? Thank you!

Hi, yes, I certainly had times when I felt like I didn’t want to be in my own home and they were horrible. I don’t know what made those feelings pass but they suddenly did. Maybe I just accepted what’s done is done and realised I couldn’t spend the rest of my life worrying over this. We all breathe asbestos fibres in every day, it’s naturally floating in the air yet people aren’t dying of asbestos related illnesses in huge numbers. Another thing my dr said - in my teenage years i spent hours in pubs around people who would smoke but that doesn’t bother me, its just as dangerous - we face things everyday that could make us ill and don’t give them a second thought. Yes asbestos is dangerous but don’t let the worry of it ruin your happiness. I’m sure you have a beautiful home so enjoy it