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Asbestos exposure in abandoned building

Morgan123
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Hello, ive been worrying about an abandoned building that i sometimes go in with my mates, its a pub that was built in the 1950s and the builldings basic infastructure contains asbestos. The walls are broken and have holes  in them and ive been in there when there destroying the walls once, and so does the floor. Ive been in there 5 or 6 times and im worried that ive been exposed to a decent ammount of asbestos, im so worried and i just want a truthful awnser to wether or not this will cause me lung disieses in the future, and if it does how long is it likely to happen with the ammount of exposure ive had.

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    Hello Morgan123; welcome.  Incidentally, why do you keep going back to a place where there may be asbestos if it is worrying you - just wondered!    I spent most of my career working in public sector housing and especially during the 1980s was constantly in and our of housing with various kinds of damaged asbestos.  I never had any protection and neither do the residents.  Where we found damaged asbestos of any kind we called in a specialist team (who did wear protective clothing as they were removing damaged asbestos all day every day).  Most of the asbestos in our properties was removed by the 1990s or shortly afterwards.  I have never had any problems relating to asbestos.  I can say this with some confidence as before I worked for the local authority I lived in India for a while where I contracted pulmonary tuberculosis.  As a result of this I have had occasional check-ups throughout my life and I have no signs of any side effects from asbestos.  Hope this helps.  Annie

  • Offline in reply to Annieliz

    I only just recently thought about it, do u think this could cause me lung problems in the future? If so how far down the line do you think this will effect me, im 15 btw

  • Offline in reply to Morgan123

    Hi again.  I would say it is unlikely on the basis of the information you have provided.  Nothing is certain in this life but I (and the many people I worked with) have not suffered from a far greater exposure than yours.    You say you have been into the building 5 or 6 times; I must have spent a lot of time in dozens of properties with damaged asbestos during the 1980s.    The people who sadly have suffered from asbestos exposure are those who handled asbestos day in day out for a long period of time i.e. their working lives.  As it is obviously bothering you the best advice I can give you is not to go back to the building but inn any event the exposure you have described is pretty minimal.  If you would like to do something cosntructive perhaps you might like to talk to the owners of the building or the local authority in which the building is situated so that it can be dealt with in the proper manner?  Best wishes.  Annie

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