Asbestos containing materials

Make written enquiries of prospective clients concerning the presence of asbestos if there is any likelihood that asbestos or material containing asbestos may be encountered. Failing to make enquiries may result in exposing people to asbestos -and possible prosecution as a result. It is essential that before any work takes place on any material suspected to contain asbestos, a sample is taken for analysis to establish the asbestos content and type. Samples are to be taken by a trained and competent person. After analysis the HSE ACoPs are to be used to compare the expected fibre release with the exposure standards. Only work of a minor nature as detailed in the Approved Code of Practice can be done without a licence issued by the Health and Safety Executive. The HSE area office must be informed 14 days before commencement of major work. All work involving asbestos should be covered by a written method statement prepared before the work starts. 

Access to work areas will be strictly controlled as appropriate. Asbestos products removed will be double-bagged or placed in sealed containers for disposal at a licensed tip. During removal, asbestos will be dampened or sealed to prevent fibre emission. PPE will be worn as required by specific assessment of the work, and the minimum standard will be impervious overalls with hood in addition to respiratory protection. 

Except for work of the simplest kind, work will need to be carried out by specialist contractors. Management must ensure a method statement is available before work begins, that it is followed, and that PPE is used. Management should be aware that even sampling suspect insulation can place workers at risk, and provide appropriate protective equipment. 

Contractors should be required to produce a copy of their licence and proof of the competence training of operatives. All those working with asbestos must be trained in the hazards associated with the removal techniques, use of PPE and hygiene requirements. 

Modern experience is that all forms of asbestos are equally hazardous, although for different reasons. Previously, attention was focused on blue asbestos (crocidolite), followed by amosite, or brown asbestos. The latter is often a component of tiles. Chrysotile, white asbestos, not only produces asbestosis following even quite modest exposures, but also cancer of the lung. Analysis determines the fibre type or types, which indicates the requirements for protection although this work will be restricted to HSE licence holders. 

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Asbestos-containing material Asbestos fibers Automobile tires Car fluff Ceramic waste Coal wastes... 

Asbestos. EPA issued a proposed rule concerning identification and correction of friable asbestos-containing materials in schools. Based on data voluntarily submitted, EPA estimated that at least 8,600 public schools attended by over 3 million children contain such materials. However, EPA reportedly has no information on another 44,000 schools. Classroom concentrations of asbestos fibers in some schools have been found to approximate concentrations in homes of asbestos workers who do not have shower or laundry facilities at work. Since children exposed to asbestos will live long enough to allow the cancer latency period to elapse, the presence of friable asbestos materials in schools represents a potentially enormous public health problem. The final asbestos rule will reportedly be promulgated in the near future. (The rule was published May 27, 1982.) No other regulations regarding asbestos have been issued. 

Guidance for Controlling Friable Asbestos-Containing Materials in Buildings," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1983, EPA 560/5-83-002. 

Sawyer, R. N., and C. M. Spooner (1978). Sprayed Asbestos-Containing Materials in Buildings A Guidance Document. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Waste Management, Research Triangle Park, N.C. 

Hot water and steam pipes in some older homes may be covered with an asbestos-containing material, primarily as thermal insulation to reduce heat loss, and to protect nearby surfaces from the hot pipes. Pipes may also be wrapped in an asbestos blanket or asbestos paper tape. 

Asbestos-containing insulation has also been used on furnace ducts. Most asbestos pipe insulation in homes is preformed to fit around various diameter pipes. This type of asbestos-containing insulation was manufactured from 1920 to 1972. Renovation and home improvements may expose and disturb the asbestos-containing materials. 

Asbestos-containing cement sheets, millboard, and paper have been used frequently in buildings when wood-burning stoves have been installed. These asbestos-containing materials were used as thermal insulation to protect the floor and walls around the stoves. On cement sheets, the label may tell the plant manager if they contains asbestos. The cement sheet material will probably not... 

Some door gaskets in furnaces, ovens, and wood and coal stoves may contain asbestos. The asbestos-containing door gaskets on wood and coal-buming stoves are subject to wear and can release asbestos fibers under normal use conditions. Handle the asbestos-containing material as little as possible. 

Some asbestos materials can break into small fibers that can float in the air, and these fibers can be inhaled. These tiny fibers are small, cannot be seen, and can pass through the filters of normal vacuum cleaners and get back into the air. Once inhaled, asbestos fibers can become lodged in tissue for a long time. After many years, cancer or other sickness can develop. In order to be a health risk, asbestos fibers must be released from the material and be present in the air for people to breathe. A health risk exists only when asbestos fibers are released from the material or product. Soft, easily crumbled asbestos-containing material, previously defined as friable asbestos, has the greatest potential for asbestos release and therefore has the greatest potential to create health risks. 

General Guidelines for Handling Asbestos-Containing Materials... 

During the removal of asbestos-containing material, workers should wear approved respirators appropriate for the specific asbestos activity. Workers should also wear gloves, hats, and other protective clothing. The contractor should properly dispose of all of this equipment (along with the asbestos material) immediately after using it. 

The contractor should wet the asbestos-containing material with a hand sprayer. The sprayer should provide a fine mist, and the material should be thoroughly dampened, but not dripping wet. Wet fibers do not float in the air as readily as dry fibers and will be easier to clean up. The contractor should add a small amount of a low sudsing dish or laundry detergent to improve the penetration of the water into the material and reduce the amount of water needed. 

The contractor should assure that if asbestos-containing material must be drilled or cut, it is done outside or in a special containment room, with the material wetted first. 

The contractor should place any material that is removed and any debris from the work in sealed, leak-proof, properly labeled, plastic bags (6 mm thick) and should dispose of them in a proper land-fill. The contractor should comply with Health Department instructions about how to dispose of asbestos-containing material. 

In still another case, airborne asbestos is frequently qualitatively identified and/or sampled by either a licenced engineer or a certified asbestos contractors, and quantitatively analyzed by a certified laboratory. The building material, such as the insulation for the plumbing system, however, can only be removed by a State-certified asbestos contractor. The readers are referred to Section 3.6.3 for air sampling and identification of asbestos-containing materials. 

USEPA. Managing Asbestos in Place - A Building Owner s Guide to Operations and Maintenance Programs for Asbestos-Containing Materials, Report No. TS-799 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC, July 1990. 

Steinway, D.M. Scope and numbers of regulations for asbestos-containing materials, abatement continue to grow. Hazmat World 1990, April, 32-58. 

Asbestos may, however, attack carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and school custodians who inadvertently disturb it. These people have to exercise due caution and use protective equipment whenever they think they may be dealing with asbestos. As for the rest of us, I don t think asbestos is much of an issue. Would I like to work in an asbestos mine No way. Would I want to be drilling through asbestos panels Uh, uh. Would I hesitate to send my children to a school constructed with asbestos-containing materials Nope. But I would like to know that an expert who has up-to-date knowledge of asbestos inspects the building periodically. And if that expert should recommend action, I would certainly not insist that it begin the next day. 

Asbestos Mining, construction, ship-building, manufacture of asbestos-containing materials Asbestosis, lung cancer... 

The CIPE plan called for a remediation of asbestos-containing materials in the Etemit and in the ILVA steelwork factories. Ninety percent of the buildings, squares, and sites were cleared of asbestos by March 4,2000. During the remediation activities, and in coordination with the local Health Unities (ASL)), a series of control samples were collected. 915 samples were analyzed to evaluate the presence of aerially dispersed asbestos fibers in nearby locations. No values exceeding WHO limits were detected. 1044 samples and analyses from the Etemit site and 56 from the ILVA site were also collected to monitor fiber dispersion inside the area of the operations. 

In indoor air, the concentration of asbestos depends on whether asbestos was used for insulation, ceiling or floor tiles, or other purposes, and whether these asbestos-containing materials are in good condition or are deteriorated and easily cmmbled. Concentrations measured in homes, schools, and other buildings that contain asbestos range from about 30 to 6,000 fibers/m (0.00003-0.006 fibers/mL). People who work with asbestos or asbestos-containing products (for... 

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