Artex Scrapped before plastering - so worried my family are at risk. What can I do?

I’m looking for some help and reassurance after the plasterer scrapped the Artex ceiling in my hall / stairway before skimming over. It was done without my knowledge and I’m now in a state of fear as it hadn’t been tested beforehand so I have no way of knowing if it was asbestos free or not. The carpet was covered over, which I’ve since thrown out as I’d hoovered it repeatedly but wasn’t convinced I’d caught all the dust in my hepa grade vacuum.  Ive wet wiped all the surfaces and washed the walls, and continue to do so the minute I spot any dust. I’ve also ran a hepa grade air filter in the space and the reading is 100% clean. I’ve wiped down and hoovered all the rooms in the house a couple of times and changed all the bedding to brand new just in case. I’ve also put air purifiers in the bedrooms. As the couch in the living room is fabric I’ve also thrown it out as I wasn’t convinced I had hoovered it sufficiently enough. I feel like I have gone to extremes but just want to be sure.
I’ve read all I can on white asbestos and know that one exposure isn’t the worst and that our lungs work hard to expel any contaminates but I am at the point of exhaustion as I need to draw a line under it. Any help or guidance on how I do this would be appreciated. I just want to know my family aren’t at risk if they visit. 

  • This was asked recently. Unless youve had exposure in your occupation over many years the risk is extremely low. Youve done all the correct things cleanimg and wet wiping surfaces. The plasterer would be unlikely to cause loads of dust if they thought the existing artex contaoned asbestos. You could pay to get your ceilings tested for asbestos even the scraped one as the test is very sensitive. It cost me £238 for 6 ceilings. It leaves no damage test results in 10 days. Worth it to sleep easy

    Ed

  • Hi Westie,

    This question comes up a lot.
    First off - please don’t panic as even if it contained white asbestos the risk is very low. Blue asbestos was the most deadly type. 
    Are you able to find out when the Artex was applied - maybe from a past owner?
    The ban was phased in but if it was applied after 1985 it probably didn’t contain asbestos.

    The exact dates are listed on this website.

    Best wishes
    Dave

  • Thank you, Ed,  for taking the time to message and for your reassurance. It is greatly appreciated and makes me feel better that I’ve done the correct things to try and clean up. I’ve had a look over the other posts on this topic on the forum and will try and reframe my thinking. I think I just need to know I’ve tried to remove as much of the potential asbestos exposure as possible to be able to make my peace with it and move on as I can’t undo what’s happened.

  • Thanks for taking the time to reply, Dave.  I appreciate your reassurance. Unfortunately, the previous owner had passed so I have no way of finding out. I am trying to reason in my head that as many of the other rooms don’t have artex and instead have wallpapered ceilings that the house wasn’t built with it as a feature at the time (Late 1960s) so it may have been added after 1985 which makes me feel slightly less anxious.