Asbestos Inside Our Homes

Denio Sturzeneker, Corporate Safety Director, Plaza Construction

Let us start with the basics. When you hire a contractor, you really do not know if the contractor will have the most experienced and trained professionals onsite. A construction site could be anything from a 1-family home to a major high-rise multi-store building. In fact, older buildings (aka landmark buildings) will most likely have some kind of Asbestos on their materials. Careful planning and choosing the right contractor will be incredibly challenging if you do not have any construction experience. Federal, state, and local laws must be followed for a project to be successful. For example, in California, state officials have a team of professionals called the Cal/OSHA Asbestos and Carcinogen Unit to make sure the laws in California are being followed.

Amongst all construction trades, nobody likes to be close to Asbestos crews for a reason: You cannot really see the danger. Inhaling or ingesting asbestos causes fibers to become trapped in the body. Over decades, trapped asbestos fibers can cause inflammation, scarring, and diverse types of cancer.

Asbestos exposure has been the primary cause of mesothelioma for many years already, and it can also cause a progressive lung disease called asbestosis.

Nowadays, asbestos mainly comes from Kazakhstan, China, and Russia. The toxic mineral was once mined throughout North America. Most commercial asbestos deposits contain 5% to 6% asbestos. Some deposits, such as the Coalinga deposit in California, contain 50% or more asbestos. 

Asbestos kills 40,000 Americans each year from malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other related diseases. The U.S. is the only developed country without fully banning the carcinogen.

In 1989, a partial national ban was passed on manufacturing, importing, processing, and distributing some asbestos-containing products. EPA also banned new uses of asbestos, which prevented new asbestos products from entering the marketplace after August 25th, 1989. These uses remain banned across the USA.

My wife mentioned something remarkably interesting about the topic within her profession. During her professional career, she understood what Asbestos could do to humans. A 2014 study from Universidad de A. Coruna (Spain), “Miguel Clemente” (Psychosocial health and asbestos poisoning), already explains the consequences of the exposure. The affected participants presented high indexes of alteration of mental health in comparison with unaffected participants. All the variables of the SCL-90 questionnaire were shown to be highly significant (Somatization, obsession compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism).

How to deal with Asbestos? Well, Asbestos abatement means any type of disturbance such as removal, enclosure, encapsulation, or repair. Since disturbing Asbestos may release fibers into the air (airborne), there are regulations for abatement activities and training/certification requirements for those who perform it. It is heavily regulated. For instance, in the NYC construction industry that follows the rules and regulations of the US-DEP (Department of Environment Protection), all applicants for construction permits must present an Asbestos Exemption Certification to the Department of Buildings (NYCDOB) at the intake of the project application.

According to the American Society of Safety Professionals and US-DOL-OSHA, Asbestos is nothing new to all EH&S professionals.

 It has been a topic for many studies and training throughout the industry. Below are a few examples where Asbestos could be found:

Children are not typically at risk for these diseases because they do not work in industrial settings; however, some homes, public housing, and school construction projects can disturb old asbestos. Appropriate construction practices, avoidance of known sources of asbestos, and avoidance of tobacco smoke (e-cigarettes included) are the best ways to avoid unnecessary risk to children.

“With the influx of unqualified workers in the construction market, lower-tier contractors usually bypass several safety procedures, increasing the exposure to the residents/occupants of the building and the workers themselves”

When hiring a contractor to perform asbestos abatement, choosing who is performing the reduction is especially important. Sometimes, several tiers of subcontractors are used, and health and safety procedures are not fully followed. With the influx of unqualified workers in the construction market, lower-tier contractors usually bypass several safety procedures, increasing the exposure to the residents/occupants of the building and the workers themselves. One of the key issues with asbestos is prolonged exposure to the fibers. You only know when it is too late; many years have passed, and the problem has become chronic. The right selection of personnel, protective equipment, and approved regulated abatement methods could almost eliminate the hazard of contacting workers and the public. The general contractor must be very understanding and serious and take initiative when it comes to abatement methods and quality controls.

 Conclusion                                 

Kids come first! Just like anything else we do for the environment, we collectively should do it as a team with specific responsibilities. From building developers to homeowners, we can do an overall successful project together in any facility or building. Here are some step-by-step procedures from OSHA.