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 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 I have added you as a friend and hoping you could message me as I am worried about exposure and would like to hear your experience 

Hi Gem and welcome to the community.

I noticed you were hoping to connect with Jak99. Unfortunately they haven't been back on the forum since October 2021 so there's a chance you may not get to hear about their experience.

I really hope that won't be the case, but if they don't get back to you, then I hope this information provided by the British Lung Foundation as well as all the experiences shared in this thread can offer you some comfort and reassurance at this worrying time.

Kind regards,

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi Gem and welcome to the community.

I noticed you were hoping to connect with Jak99. Unfortunately they haven't been back on the forum since October 2021 so there's a chance you may not get to hear about their experience.

I really hope that won't be the case, but if they don't get back to you, then I hope this information provided by the British Lung Foundation as well as all the experiences shared in this thread can offer you some comfort and reassurance at this worrying time.

Kind regards,

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

Do you know if Jak99 ever revealed the names of the expert witness/other experts he spoke to? I have been exposed by neighbours negligently storing asbestos for 6 years against my fence. It fell through my fence eventually. The big reveal! I am trying to find real advice on risk.