Hi Orangelime. Welcome to the forum.

I'm not a doctor nor am I an expert on asbestos. However, this question pops up regularly on this forum. 

The asbestos in Artex was Chrysotile, or white asbestos, and it made up about 2% of the mix. Whilst white asbestos cannot be called "safe", it is definitely the least hazardous form.  Furthermore the body will naturally clear out a small number of white asbestos fibres over time.  The low concentration of asbestos means that the number of fibres released will be quite low if you cut or drill it, with many fibres remaining trapped in the other 98% of material that fell to the floor and got swept up. 

You asked about the risk to your family.  Perhaps not surprisingly, there are no figures for the number of people who have died due to exposure to asbestos in decorative products.  However in 2016 there were 2,197 male deaths and 398 female deaths from mesothelioma. I hate to use gender stereotyping, but I suspect that few of those women were exposed at work, which means they must have been exposed to asbestos elsewhere. In the home, perhaps?  Now 398 sounds a lot, but to put it in context, 3500 people die in the home each year from simple accidents; 1800 die each year in road accidents; 1500 die from accidental poisoning; 1500 die each year from falling in the home; 5-10 die each year putting on their socks.  

So, although you're kicking yourself that you disturbed the material, you have done what most other householders (including me!) have done at some time - disturbed the Artex in the ceiling and possibly breathed in the fibres. But the extra risk to your family appears to be minimal and definitely nothing to panic about. It most certainly isn't a death warrant that will be hanging over everyone's head for years to come. You're getting expert advice on what to do next, but maybe sealing the damaged areas and being more asbestos aware is all that you'll need to do. Almost certainly removing the Artex would be more dangerous than leaving it in place and keeping it properly sealed. 

I'll also add one further point. Smoking and asbestos are a lethal combination. If you or any of your family are smokers, then now might be a good time to quit. 

So I guess the take home message is Don't Panic. 

Thank you for this. Really appreciate you replying. I do feel reassured now! 

Hi, [@Jak99]‍ 

I recently came across this forum while searching for how to deal with asbestos exposure. I am currently doing a home renovation and my builder sawed into our artex ceiling to fit in gallows bracket to support the chimney breast after chimney removal and the asbestos test has come back positive. Can I pm you pls @jak99, my daughter's room is above this ceiling and we are living in the house while the work is being done.

Hi, a year ago i did some house rennovations and took down 5 ceilings containing artex and considered it to be heavy exposure as i couldnt see the othe side off the room this was 2 days work. I just have bad anxiety and im worried that it was heavy exposure. I was wearing a mask to do the job, but because at the time i had no idea artex was even a thing, the mask came off when i got sweaty and when i was just bagging and sweeping up i was also not wearing the mask. Which is why im very worried this was heavy exposure. Thanks. I know alot has been said already just looking threw the forum, which does reassure me somewhat. However 5 ceilings completley revoved created an incredible amount of dust and have been worried since i discovered what artex contained. Thanks 

HI [@Jak99]‍ , I have been worrying sick about this too. I scraped a small 1 square metre of the swirl artex and didn't have it tested. Had no idea it could even contain asbestos. There should warnings given out. However your words from the experts are very comforting. I had managed to get it out of my headfor years after it happened but something has recently gotme worrying about it again. I am guessing that the level of activitiy with the Artex has been far too minimal and as you say you need to have prolonged exposure or massive quantities. Thanks so much for posting this you are an angel.... googling is awful. 

I did figure that asbestos companies need fear to drive business so I can understand their tone and why they push for this. Thanks Jak99

Hi Jak99, would you mind if I contacted you directly to chat about your post above - our builders have just knocked out our artex ceilings in the dining room and kitchen but we're now being told that neighbours' ceilings have tested positive for asbestos and we're still living here in all the dust with two kids! Have had an awful day worrying about it all and builder is very casual about it and says he can tell the artex is just paint but Google searches argue that you can only be 100% sure it's not asbestos if it's tested!

Thank you so much in advance

Hi I'm very new here , discovered this forum weeks ago and my mind was put at rest with some of the posts explaining the overall dangers of accidental exposure are minimal so I was happy with that . I'm with a housing association and after a flood that caused my kitchen ceiling to cave in asbestos was disturbed . This was back in December! Only now have the arranged a "specialist" to come out and remove the rest of the ceiling and asbestos- this was today and I've just come home to dust and minimal debris in my kitchen cupboards, this then got me thinking that they may not indeed be professional specialists as surely they should have cleaned up properly ? My main question is should a company leave paperwork to say that they have tested the air after a job like this ? There was no paperwork left . I'm currently waiting on the out of hours repair team phoning me back to see if they can shed any light on wether or not an air test was carried out . I have my little girl and dog to worry about as well as myself . There's no carpet in my bedroom which is directly above the kitchen and there's habs in the floorboard so my main worry is sleeping in that bedroom tonight! I don't see any dust in my bedroom . Can anyone shed any light or offer any advice on what the standard process is re air testing etc I don't even know if the special are required to test air after a job ? I may be overreacting and worrying over nothing 

Hi blonde1, I've had a similar experience, my bathroom has a burst pipe a couple of months ago, which resulted in it flooded through my kitchen ceiling. There was a crack in the artex in the kitchen ceiling and lots of white dust which I just cleaned up the next day. Everything dried out by the next day, plumber came out fixed the pipe never mentioned the kitchen ceiling.  So there's been a 6inch crack in my kitchen ceiling, right above my sink and draining board.  Just got back from holiday yesterday and thought it looked worst so I've asked landlord to look at it. Now I'm worried sick that I've been eating and drinking from the dishes on the draining board right under the crack.  I've never heard of asbestos in ceilings until now, deversated. 

Hi , I know this is an old post but would love to know what you found out from the professionals on risks etc ,  as we've just bought an old house and already has lots of holes in the walls , there is so much scary stuff about it on the Internet 

thanks 

Hello

Am looking to buy a house with absestos in and stumbled across this thread. 

Not that its anything scientific but my dad used to saw up asbestos (the more dangerous types) back in the 60's and has scaring on his lungs but is still alive at the age of 82! He's had more health issues from heart disease and strokes than he has from the asbestos exposure.

Just thought it might help with perspective.

Neil

Morning Jac

I have found my way here through googling :( I was on holiday last week and telling a story of when I Jachammered up a concrete floor in my Victoria home 10 years ago to find 'tiles' buried.. lond story short - no mask and hidden asbestos by the developers - the builder I was talking to said "oh my god you've got a few years left at best then" this has scared the bejeeezus out of me so I'm wondering if I can get the name of your expert witness to contact him / her please ~ Thankyou 

Thankyou 

Hi. Thank you for the reassuring messages. I also did research around fibre concentration and risk and indeed it is low. However, what I'm worried about is not the initial exposure but longer term breathing in of the dust. We had our ceiling scraped for replastering and didn't know the risk. Therefore the living room was only cleaned normally. So we lived breathing in the residual fibres from the work over a few years. This could be worse than the initial exposure so I'm really worried. I can't quite figure it out from all the information. I'm suffering such anxiety so any help is appreciated.

Hi. Thank you for the reassuring messages. I also did research around fibre concentration and risk and indeed it is low. However, what I'm worried about is not the initial exposure but longer term breathing in of the dust. We had our ceiling scraped for replastering and didn't know the risk. Therefore the living room was only cleaned normally. So we lived breathing in the residual fibres from the work over a few years. This could be worse than the initial exposure so I'm really worried. I can't quite figure it out from all the information. I'm suffering such anxiety so any help is appreciated.

[@ccastell70]‍ Did you get any response to your question? I am also worried about this. I wasn't in the room when a small part of the ceiling was scraped so I think the initial exposure, if it did contain asbestos, would be small but I didn't get it professionally cleaned so does this count as prolonged exposure if the fibres are still in the air or is it still part of the initial small exposure? Does anyone know? Thanks.

Hello,

Sorry to jump on this post but after hours of googling I needed some advice/reassurance.

a few years ago my husband and I renovated our first home - a 1940s semi. Our home buyers report stated there was potential for asbestos in textured walls throughout & ceilings - walls were "popcorn" walls & ceilings were the standard swirled design. 
 

naively  , and now looking back very stupidly, despite the home buyers report we never got a professional test done to test for the presence of asbestos. Not being fully aware of the dangers , we removed all of the downstairs ceilings ourselves & my husband kango drilled the bottom 1m of the walls to allow for a damp proof course to be installed. We weren't living in the property at the time but spent a considerable portion of our days there working & the removal of the ceilings / walls took about 4 weeks. We used masks during the demolition - just your standard b&Q job nothing substantial

the remaining walls were skimmed over following the DPC 

judging by the condition  of the property our estimation is that the Artex was done around the 1970s/80s so I'd say a good chance it contained asbestos although obviously we can't tell for certain  

i am now  extremely worried about the potential health reprucussions. I have read that the percentage of asbestos in Artex is quite low but we I imagine we're potentially exposed to quite a lot given the removal of all ceilings and the drilling of the walls to allow for the DPC

any advice or reassurance is much appreciated! 
 

 Thanks in advance