6 Things You Need to Know About Asbestos and Home Paint

Homeowners need to be aware of the hazards that can be found in older paints and building materials. One of the most well-known hazards is asbestos.

Asbestos is a type of mineral that was historically used in building materials because it offered advantageous properties such as sound absorption and fire resistance. However, asbestos exposure was eventually recognized as a health threat. Asbestos use in the manufacture of a wide variety of products was eventually limited by organizations such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency starting in the 1970's.

If you live in an older home and you are concerned about asbestos exposure from paints in your home, you should be aware of the following six things:

Exposure to asbestos has been linked to a wide variety of different medical conditions.

Perhaps the most notorious is a cancerous condition of the lungs and the digestive tract known as mesothelioma. Asbestos exposure has also been identified as a potential cause of lung cancer.

Asbestos exposure has also been linked to non-cancerous conditions including asbestosis and pleural thickening.

The health conditions caused by asbestos exposure are conditions that mostly affect the lungs. This is because asbestos enters the body after it is breathed in. Asbestos fibers can be released into the air. Once the fibers are released, a home's residents constantly breathe them in unknowingly. This is especially true in home's that haven't had their asbestos levels measured and lowered if necessary.

Homeowners shouldn't jump to the conclusion that they are at risk of health conditions caused by asbestos exposure just because their home was painted with paint that contains asbestos.

Asbestos exposure is generally not possible as long as the paint remains in good shape and is not disrupted by decay or remodeling projects. Asbestos fibers will not get into the air unless demolition or maintenance work is performed or surfaces on which asbestos paint has been placed begin to deteriorate.

Professional painters with experience in asbestos detection and abatement can inspect a painted surface on a home's interior and determine if asbestos exposure is an issue.

Homeowners who are remodeling an older home need to know whether or not asbestos was used in the paint or building components used in their home. Asbestos detection should be performed to make sure that remodeling doesn't release harmful asbestos fibers into the air.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, some of the common types of paint in which asbestos was often included are textured ceiling paints, paint patching compounds, silver paints, and joint compounds.  

If any of these types of paint were used in your home, then you might want to hire an asbestos abatement professional to inspect your home and look out for asbestos hazards.

If your home has an asbestos issue, you should be aware of the asbestos abatement options that are available to you. Asbestos needs to either be remediated or removed depending on the situation.

Asbestos remediation usually entails encapsulating the asbestos in another material - commonly a coat of a special type of paint - to avoid disruption of the asbestos material and dispersal of asbestos fibers into the air.

If paint or building components containing asbestos have begun to chip away or deteriorate, exposure is particularly likely. In these cases, the complete removal of the surface on which the paint was placed may be necessary.

Asbestos control is just one of the many painting preparation and application services offered by So Unique Painting & Decorating. If you're concerned about asbestos exposure in your home, contact our friendly team of experts at So Unique Painting & Decorating. We can answer your questions and concerns.