Hi JoDIY

I'm sorry to hear about your recent experience. You did the right thing by stopping work and getting a sample taken when you become suspicious of the material. Chrysotile asbestos carries much less risk than Amosite or Crocidolite so with the level of exposure you've had it is very unlikely to have caused you or your family any harm. 
 

everyone is exposed to asbestos at some level throughout their life. Asbestos fibres are present in our everyday environment. Yet very few people become ill and those that do have general had very high levels of exposure over many years. Just learn from it and try not to worry!

Ive just read your post as I'm frantically searching the internet for answers. I've been renovating an old house and removing a lot of woodwork paint. I had no idea of the asbestos risk! My two children were there today and that's the first time I've ever removed paint with them around. I didn't sand with them there luckily but there have been flakes of paint all over the place. I'm getting it tested as I'm now panicking. I had no idea.

Hi there,

I have also experienced a similar scenario to yours and really got myself worried over my asbestos exposure. This lead me to reading nearly every single article concerning Asbestos exposure, talking to Asbestos experts on the phone, and booking a GP appointment to discuss my worries.

Firstly, please try not to worry about this exposure. Asbestos can seem extremely frightening when we first find out about it, and the horror stories on the internet certainly don't help. The general consensus is that such small and brief exposure presents a negligible health risk. The reason for this is because we are exposed to very small amounts of Asbestos fibers in the air anyways due to environmental and constructional changes. Asbestos-related diseases occur in those who have worked in high-risk jobs, for over several years. Most people now undertake DIY work and so it is extremely common to come into contact with small amounts of Asbestos during your work yet there are no reported cases of these people becoming ill from this small exposure. Therefore, your risk is minimal, and you will certainly not need to move out of your home.

Chrysolite, thankfully, poses much less of a risk than brown/blue asbestos, This is due to its mineral shape being curly rather than straight, meaning it is harder to induce Abestos illnesses. They are also weaker, and studies have found that due to their fragility, the lungs are naturally able to break down and get rid of Chrystolite fibers. I completely understand how you feel, I was exposed to broken Artex for a number of months and became so paranoid that I consulted my GP as well as an online doctor and asbestos experts, all of whom assured me that even my two months of exposure is still a negligible risk and it is those who worked within high-risk industries that are most at risk.

I really hope this helps, please do not hesitate to message me back if you have any more worries :) and best of luck going forwards 

Thanks, R

Hi.

I know this post is old so I am not sure if I will get a response or not.

I am working myself into a bit of a state. My grandparents had a leak in their roof years ago ( about 20) part of the ceiling fell down but they left it and have never bothered getting it fixed.

It now turns out the ceiling had asbestos in it and there was asbestos insulation above that.

I am now completely freaking out because of my kids. I take them to see them every weekend for a couple of hours. My eldest is 8 and youngest is 2 so it's roughly 3 hours a week for 8 years, 4 years and 2 years for my kids.

I'm feeling sick thinking they could get seriously ill from this. My husband thinks I'm being dramatic and anything that would have become loose in the air would have done it by now and since it happened so long ago it should be safe. Where all I can think is they have been sat in a room with an asbestos hole for years.

I have been exposed to it for 20 years and have been getting right side chest pain for 6 years but an xray showed clear but this was before I found out about the asbestos so it wasn't mentioned to a doctor.

I don't want to take them to see them until they have someone out to fix it.

Am I worrying myself silly over nothing?