Asbestos under tiles - or just paranoia?

[Mottled]

I heard a story a while back about asbestos being found under some tiles on a window sill. Maybe it's made me a bit paranoid, but I've lifted some old tiles on a window sill constructed about 33 years ago and I've convinced myself it might be some form of asbestos product.

It's off-pinkish so looks a bit like plaster, but is not as cool or smooth to touch as the plaster elsewhere in the room.

I know you really need to look at it under a microscope to be certain, but can anyone tell me if I'm just being silly or not? Picture:


Thanks!

 

[easyt]

If you dampen it and scrape with a knife or chisel then if it is asbestos you will see fibres.

 

[Mottled]

THanks easyt - is this the case even if it's asbestos cement?

 

[Mottled]

This is what it looks like when I do that:

 

[easyt]

You should be able to detect fibres in asbestos cement. If in doubt take it out. If it is asbestos cement tiles you can remove them yourself. Keep them damp, clean up with a damp cloth and dispose of. I think all local authorities have a facility. I know ours do in a few recycling centres. You don't have to be licensed for a situation of minimal risk such as this.

read here Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006

 

[diamondtiling]

Asbestos is regulated nowadays and a license is required in order to deal with it, as far as I am aware no-one on this froum has the required training to answer your question so my advice to you would be to get a professional in to deal with your potential problem. If it is asbestos then it needs to be dealt with properly, any answer from this forum might be mis-leading and maybe illegal? If anything happened I would not like to think that you had acted on advice from a forum member.
That might seem like an over the top health and safety stance but hey, we live in a litigious society.

Ask your local council for help maybe?

 

[easyt]

Second thoughts, if you are tiling over it I would do just that. I don't think it is likely to be asbestos and even if it is and is contained then there is no danger. It is fibres in the air that are a problem.

 

[easyt]

Asbestos is regulated nowadays and a license is required in order to deal with it, as far as I am aware no-one on this froum has the required training to answer your question so my advice to you would be to get a professional in to deal with your potential problem. If it is asbestos then it needs to be dealt with properly, any answer from this forum might be mis-leading and maybe illegal? If anything happened I would not like to think that you had acted on advice from a forum member.
That might seem like an over the top health and safety stance but hey, we live in a litigious society.

Ask your local council for help maybe?

Whether you need to be licensed depends solely on the nature of the situation. I understand though why you are cautious. - Quite rightly.

 

[Mottled]

I'm planning to paint it, so need to strip it down a bit which was why I was getting worried. It does seem just to be plaster though, it is behaving when dampened and scraped as the stuff on the opposite wall which has to be plaster...

 

[diamondtiling]

I'm planning to paint it, so need to strip it down a bit which was why I was getting worried. It does seem just to be plaster though, it is behaving when dampened and scraped as the stuff on the opposite wall which has to be plaster...

If you think it may be a regulated material then just ring your local council for help.

 

[easyt]

Certainly looks like plaster

 

[Mottled]

RIght, I've been brave! Here is the photo of it now - just plaster on cement isn't it?

Sorry if i'm being dumb - just inexperienced and a bit nervous...

 

[White Room]

Looks like old board finish plaster.

 

[williamraff]

Hi, I am sorry but I think now would be a good time to interject. On the subject of Asbestos -never disturb any material thought to contain asbestos! Always assume it does until and/or unless proven otherwise! A sample should be taken by a qualified contractor and analysed at an accredited lab, this can be done quite cheaply.
The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) willprosecute infringements of the control of hazardous substances regulations - namely the Control of Asbestos At Work Regulations 2006.
The HSE have embarked on a programme of prosecutions including imprisonment for such offences.
I assume and hope that you are not doing this job for a third party as there would be serious ramifications if you were to deliberately introduce asbestos fibers into an uncontrolled environment.
A "one off " exposure is sufficient to induce Pleural Plaques and /or Asbestosis. The gestation period can be up to thirty years so many tradesmen are cavalier about the risks of exposure but the HSE and the NHS are bracing themselves for symptons of exposure from decades ago.
Never look for fibres in a sample you suspect - always leave it to the professionals - do not take chances with your own health or that of others.
Certain types of asbestos have been re classified as being non notifiable but they must be removed and disposed of under controlled conditions.
There is no "safe form of asbestos - all can be deadly and all can kill.

 

[Mottled]

williamraff, I understand your cautious attitude, however I should be clear that I am a layman, who has come on to a forum with professionals in order that I might have someone tell me what they would think if they were standing where I am. It is my zero experience and slightly paranoid nature that has said to me 'What if this is asbestos?', not any kind of assumption based on knowledge or evidence.

If it's obviously not asbestos, I would prefer that I gain this opinion rather than enter in to a costly and/or lengthy process of getting authorities involved, only to be laughed at and become the "You wouldn't believe the callout I had today" story for a bunch of council contractors who had wasted their time.

 

[williamraff]

Hi, I completely understand your position and the reason you asked the question in the first place. It is to your credit that you did so and stands as a salutary lesson to those who would risk scratching a suspect material to see if it released fibers.
Just as an aside, it is not the fibers you see which represent the greatest danger - it is the microscopic ones which irreversibly lodge in the lining of the lung which are the greatest threat.
I can also confirm that none of the professionals with whom I am acquainted would ever laugh at someone requesting a "bulk sample analysis" better to be safe than sorry.
I am a Building Surveyor with experience of working with asbestos so I have to advise you of best practice and the dangers of non compliance.
I apologise if it came across with an accusatory tone but I can assure you this was not the intent.
The dangers of asbestos are many and widespread, I would save you and any reading this post from unwarranted exposure.

 

[diamondtiling]

After losing two close friends and a cousin to asbestosis who used to work in Crewe works building train engines I can only agree with the above comments. This is a tiling forum, not a branch of the HSE.
Leave it alone and get qualified help.