Artex + Asbestos.

[harrisonline]

Hello,

I want to move a radiator in my kitchen to the opposite wall and it involves making holes in my artex ceiling to move the pipes.

Is there anywhere I can send a sample of my artex to see if it contains asbestos?

Thanks.

 

[Alastairreid]

www.asbestos-uk.biz

 

[roughcaster]

Here's another link too...... www.asbestostesting.co.uk/home.htm £34.50 per sample,,, inc.VAT. It also gives an example of the cost to remove a 12' x12' ceiling that has been textured with artex containing asbestos...... Price,,,,, in the region of £3000.00.


Roughcaster.

 

[harrisonline]

Thanks.

 

[harrisonline]

I took a sample to Cardiff University and they found that my sample contained white asbestos fibres. I had the results in less than a week.

They charged £50 to check a sample but I thought that I could trust them as they have nothing to sell, like an asbestos removal company would!

 

[galliano2001]

Asbestos - oh my lord, thats a lot of money to analyse one sample! As some of you know i work in this industry on the consultancy side, most decent labs charge around £5 to £10 per sample.

Just be carefull taking the sample, what is the substrate the artex is attached to?

 

[harrisonline]

Hi, It is attached to plaster board/plaster I think?

 

[galliano2001]

Do you want to retain the ceiling in the future? If not you can remove the plasterboard sections whole without disturbing the artex too much, so dont worry about that scare mongering site quoting £3000!

If you just want to drill a hole through the board you can apply some wallpaper paste to the area you want to drill through, and drill in the actual paste to prevent any fibres becoming airborne. So no need to test for it, just assume it is positive. Ideally wear a P3 rated mask as you do the work.

 

[gday2uk]

Would this amount of exposure really cause any harm? Unless you snorted up the dust afterwards or stood under the drill taking deep breaths I think you'll be ok.
Probably exposed to more carcinogens at higher levels in ordinary daily life i.e. smoking (first or second hand), drinking alcohol etc. And if you've ever walked along a street with lots of traffic - just google 'traffic fumes' and you'd never leave home again!

 

[galliano2001]

Could you clarify this 'Would this amount of exposure really cause any harm?'

If you mean would removing artex in an uncontrolled manner cause harm, then yes it would. Although the asbestos contect of artex is low, using a power drill on it could cause high fibre levels in an area where your face is likely to be.

So for the sake of a small glob of wallpaper paste it make sense to do it.

As for the risk in comparison to other activities, well asbestos cause three main diseases, asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer. Asbestosis and lung cancer are dose related, so a one off exposure is unlikely to cause a major problem, mesothelioma however is not, and one exposure could cause the onset of the disease, obviously prolonged and frequent exposure is more likely to cause problems.

Please don't base your health and safety around the fact you have other dangers in your life, thats not a sensible approach. Around 4000 people die each year from asbestos related exposure, its the UK's largest industrial killer.

My advice would add 5 minutes to the job and cost under a tenner, worth it for peace of mind in my book.

 

[gday2uk]

Fair points, and like you say any steps to minimise contamination, in my opinion would be common sense. That is what I was basing my post on, the OP using common sense. Take precautions to minimise particle disruption, wear appropriate mask, have appropriate ventilation, wash dusty clothes after etc.
After re-reading my post I apologise I didn't make this clear.

 

[harrisonline]

Thanks for all your replies.

The wallpaper paste sounds like a good tip and I will give it a try.

I used to hold a vacuum cleaner to catch the dust but think that I probably made it worse with the fibres shooting out the other end of the cleaner!