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! 

Hey Elena,

Stressed out of my head. My son and pregnant wife just bought a house-  built in late 1930’s. They had door frames ripped out and used a steamer to remove the 4 layers of wallpaper in the living room.

My son removed the bathroom and kitchen tiles and they’ve been in and out for last 3-4 weeks getting builders and plasters in. Lots of debris from wall stripping and plaster and cement from where architrives and door frames removed.

Three  questions- 

House is very warm despite the cold outside - The walls seem very solid. Could there be asbestos insulating board in the walls??

Risk of asbestos exposure from the work they’ve carried out? 

Asbestos from wallpaper removal and cement and plaster.? 

Thanks

By "in the walls", if you mean in the cavity it is almost certain that nothing is there. Most cavity wall insulation was done from the 90's onwards and asbestos was not used for that. Asbestos was widely used after WW II, but not used much in housing before then. It is very common in houses built in the 60's and 70's.  Asbestos Insulating Board was more likely to have been used in an industrial setting. The biggest risk for asbestos usage will have been decorating in the 60's and 70's, and applying Artex to the ceilings.

Please could I get the details of these individuals. My wife is riddled with anxiety about this issue and we have no way of resolving it without speaking to experts  at this point. Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated. 

Hello, I've read the whole thread and I know that Jeff has been gone a while, but was wondering if anyone else has any insight into this. A few years ago I briefly sanded a stippled ceiling in an attempt to smooth it. It didn't work too well so I gave up, and instead scraped it off. I have no idea how much of a dose / exposure the sanding is likely to have been. I'm extremely worried now. Would anyone have any experience or insight into this?

Hi Jak. Hopefully, you're still monitoring this account as I saw your comment and was very intrigued. I've started to become increasingly worried about some DIY work my wide and I did several years ago - scraping and sanding of some textured ceiling and wall paints. Your comment about the 250 years was something I haven't seen before. Where is that from? Do you have a UK contact or specialist you spoke to? We don't have access to the property anymore so it's hard to get a sample but I'd just like to speak to an expert (that isn't incentivised to terrify me). Thanks.

Hi there. You may not follow this thread anymore but I just want to say thank you so much for this information. Your research and information has really helped me. Google is NOT my friend and neither are the asbestos companies I spoke to.

Youve been an angel. Sounds like the stress and anxiety we all have suffered is more of a killer than what were dealing with.

God bles you

Hello, I have also disturbed a bit of Artex coating. It is so infuriating that the presence of asbestos is not widly know

Hello, 

can I just ask what precautions were made when cleaning? My husband has worked for the last 3 years doing diy for a loft conversion and has only just tested plaster and it’s come back traces of chrysolite. My girls and I have been living in this environment. He has hoovered up after him but probably not to professional standards. Our bedroom doors were closed whilst working, but could have easily been covered in a layer of plaster/the asbestos. Just wondering how I go about minimising the risk to the children, as I would really like to avoid throwing all our belongings. 

thanks in advance 

Charlotte 

• Just found this thread and in a similar situation to some people on it. I'm having renovations done on my new house which has Artex everywhere. I asked the plasteres to skim over it and overboard the ceiling so not to disturb it. When I arrived home with my young daughter, a cloud of dust(literally) flew out as I opened the door and they told me they had it bring down the ceiling as it wasnt stable enough to be skimmed. My young daughter clearly would have breathed the dust in. I'm trying to quantify the risk in my head, part of me is panicking but the other part thinks that there's so many houses with Artex in the UK that this or similar must happen a lot . I remember as a young kid in the 80s , my parents getting artex and the person mixing it in the house and the cloud of dust being everywhere, so it happened to me.  Anyway, I'm not sure what to think now and have a lot of guilt and worry about what's happened to my daughter.

Hello there. I know how you must be feeling as I was there too a few.months ago. As you say, there are thousands of houses across the UK that used white asbestos in the mix to make the artex ceilings. You'll find almost all houses in 1 street were constructed together with same floor plans and designs. The Close I live on are all the same more or less, and although lots have been renovated since the 60s, Im sure they all have white asbestos in them, including mine.

I panicked too but these homes had residents occupying them for decades. Grew old in these homes and raised children. People dont die from living in a home that contains asbestos. Those working in the mills and construction for years on end and being exposed to the particles daily, yes..im sure there was some risk there but even then, not enough to die from it.

White asbestos is the lowest grade snd different from the blue and brown which has a lot more danger to it if exposed. I found one man on here who commented in the earlier years,  he had some good links and did his own research after talking to some professionals and I really found his input comforting..im trying to repeat what I remember here for you.

Don't worry. Ideally you dont want to be shaving down and disturbing the particles of the artex as that is where the asbestos lies but a brief exposure from what I read is not going to give a death sentence.  This man who was on this thread frequently has commented to a lot of people reassuring them over the months at the time - i dont know who he is but I know he helped calm a lot of ppl, including me.

Asbestos removal companies are scaremongers and obviously there to make.thousands from people who have it in their house. Ultimately this asbestos that's removed only sits on a landfill anyway so I wonder what exposure the employees have there?! I called up frantic too, asking for help as my husband chipped away very slightly at our artex. Really nothing,  but I panicked. I got it tested and it was asbestos (FYI, dont do this because it could affect house price.if you ever sell, as youd need to tell them, its public record for 20yrs I think). Thankfully I just skimmed over all my artex and forgot about it, im sure you will too.

Pls dont worry about your daughter. I have 2 small children and I did too but again remembered these homes were occupied for years with no deaths related to asbestos. If so, they'd knock them down! Some ppl im sure have done worse to their artex and drills holes all through and still the ratio of exposure does not reach the levels needed for any damage.

The only comment would be if you know you have asbestos, just be sure to tell any construction workers so they can make an informed decision before doing work. You dont want any lawsuits of workers saying they weren't told.  Maybe get it in writing too and a signature?

Hello there. I know how you must be feeling as I was there too a few.months ago. As you say, there are thousands of houses across the UK that used white asbestos in the mix to make the artex ceilings. You'll find almost all houses in 1 street were constructed together with same floor plans and designs. The Close I live on are all the same more or less, and although lots have been renovated since the 60s, Im sure they all have white asbestos in them, including mine.

I panicked too but these homes had residents occupying them for decades. Grew old in these homes and raised children. People dont die from living in a home that contains asbestos. Those working in the mills and construction for years on end and being exposed to the particles daily, yes..im sure there was some risk there but even then, not enough to die from it.

White asbestos is the lowest grade snd different from the blue and brown which has a lot more danger to it if exposed. I found one man on here who commented in the earlier years,  he had some good links and did his own research after talking to some professionals and I really found his input comforting..im trying to repeat what I remember here for you.

Don't worry. Ideally you dont want to be shaving down and disturbing the particles of the artex as that is where the asbestos lies but a brief exposure from what I read is not going to give a death sentence.  This man who was on this thread frequently has commented to a lot of people reassuring them over the months at the time - i dont know who he is but I know he helped calm a lot of ppl, including me.

Asbestos removal companies are scaremongers and obviously there to make.thousands from people who have it in their house. Ultimately this asbestos that's removed only sits on a landfill anyway so I wonder what exposure the employees have there?! I called up frantic too, asking for help as my husband chipped away very slightly at our artex. Really nothing,  but I panicked. I got it tested and it was asbestos (FYI, dont do this because it could affect house price.if you ever sell, as youd need to tell them, its public record for 20yrs I think). Thankfully I just skimmed over all my artex and forgot about it, im sure you will too.

Pls dont worry about your daughter. I have 2 small children and I did too but again remembered these homes were occupied for years with no deaths related to asbestos. If so, they'd knock them down! Some ppl im sure have done worse to their artex and drills holes all through and still the ratio of exposure does not reach the levels needed for any damage.

The only comment would be if you know you have asbestos, just be sure to tell any construction workers so they can make an informed decision before doing work. You dont want any lawsuits of workers saying they weren't told.  Maybe get it in writing too and a signature?