unless your sanding it or disturbing it in some way its not very dangerous. Why don't you just cover it up and not worry? I worked for Armstrong and GAF and both used asbestos in their flooring. Its really ok unless you disturb it in some way. Most homes with popcorn ceilings have asbestos and most flooring and many other products use asbestos.

Hi DanG4,

Thanks! They're coming by to patch it tomorrow. I have another question: assuming there's asbestos in the walls or possibly plaster, is hanging a picture dangerous? Putting a nail in doesn't raise any dust, so I figure it'd be OK, but maybe I'm wrong?

I'm asking because there's been quite a bit of drama here the last couple weeks concerning asbestos; the old manager died of mesothelioma, but the management has been keeping it under wraps, and the manager lived here for 20-odd years. So naturally, I'm trying to figure out what could have caused this and trying to decide if I should move or not.

Thanks,

-Brandon

I've never heard of asbestos in walls. Chances are your mgr worked in a shipyard or some sort of industry with asbestos. Many buildings have asbestos in the floors, ceilings, and heating systems and if it were true there would be millions of cases of people being exposed.

There is asbestos in many building materials. The fiber can even be found in every cubic litre of air on the planet; that is called the 'background level' when environmental air sampling is done.

Asbestos was used as a fireproofing and reinforcement material in walls, floors, roofing, pipe and boiler insulation, wiring insulation and brake linings, just to name the most common usages.

If the manager performed many repairs to stuff in the buildings which contained the fiber (these are called 'asbestos containing materials' or ACMs), then that could be considered repeated occupational exposure to the fiber. Or, as has been suggested, his occupational exposure may have been as a worker in another industry or occupation. And, if he was a heavy smoker...'that' can make exposure to the fiber all the more likely to bring on a disease associated with exposure to asbestos fibers.

If the building manager had no other occupational exposure to the fiber in another line of work...that would be something to cause concern.

Hi glennsfc,

Thanks so much for your reply. It turns out she did do some scraping of the walls, and that might have caused it. A one-time exposure to plaster, say, wouldn't be too dangerous, would it?

When I got home from vacation after getting all the news about the asbestos, I found a small white piece of debris on the floor. I picked it up and pinched it and it came apart, so I put it in a plastic bag. Some water go in and it turned into a paste, kind of gummy. The rest "disappeared" in the bag after I rolled it around for a couple seconds, leaving just a little film. I then smelled the contents of the bag (because that was smart). I'm not even sure it was plaster. It could be something else.... Does plaster do that, turn into a gummy paste that you can roll around when it gets wet after being dry for sixty years? But assuming it was plaster, would a small little amount like that cause any harm?

If I sound paranoid, it's because management has been coy about all this; they recently did deck renovation in the apartment next to mine (kind of to the left and diagonal) and didn't take any safety precautions, so we just found out that they were ripping up asbestos next door and we had no idea. They insist that they didn't know there was asbestos in the substrate, but since one is an architect and the other a contractor, I don't believe them.

It's been a strange time around here.

-Brandon

There is some controversy about single time exposure to air containing a 'significant number' of fibers and the possible onset of disease later in life. We're talking several decades after significant and repeated exposure when onset of an asbestos-related disease might manifest. Still, highly unlikely that a single-time exposure to a significant number of fibers (whatever that means) will cause disease. If the building manager scraped walls and did other work to pulverize and make the ACM friable and that was decades ago, then perhaps that work was partly responsible for her disease. Did she smoke?

As for your possible exposures...probably nothing to worry about. I would remain vigilant about other renovations that occur in the buildings, especially because you know they contain ACMs.

I worked a high profile flooring job in a high income, exclusive Manhattan apartment building...and I was stunned by the level of disregard (criminal by today's laws and regulations) by a demolition contractor of residents of the building. I walked into a passenger elevator and there stood a worker with a loose bag of obvious asbestos debris that he was carting down to a dumpster outside. Because the doors shut behind me, I simply held my breath and got out at the next stop. Suffice it ti say...I was flabergasted!

You have more of a chance of being killed by a drunken driver or by your own negligence driving our interstate highways, than you have of developing an asbestos-related disease.

Do I know people who have died from an asbestos-related disease? Absolutely. Were they occupational exposures? Yes. Other lung cancer deaths? Anyone's guess.

Thanks again.

Several of the tenants here are thinking of approaching the management to ask some questions; many of the apartments have bits of wall like this (see picture) and people aren't sure of the dangers. This picture is from my bathroom. I got some of dust on my finger but washed it off....I assume this is OK? The internet is not a good place for research: it makes it sound like you're going to die if you get any dust on you ever.

Anyway, as someone who knows about asbestos, is there anything specific you would ask, or things you would like to know? Are bits of wall like that a concern, etc? We're all a bit undereducated and under informed about these things, so it's hard to know where to start--we don't even know where the asbestos is in the apartments, just that it's there.

I really appreciate your expertise, by the way; it's really come in handy.

-Brandon

Difficult to understand the picture. Looks like you are pulling back some kind of corrugation.

If you and other tenants are concerned, and it sounds like you are, then have any suspect materials tested and have some air sampling done. Perhaps a local Board of Health could assist you with this. Or, the management might spring for some independent testing to put tenants' fears to rest.