Asbestos Litigation Asbestos Cancers
Lung Cancer Chrysotile Asbestos
Asbestos Materials:
In the United States, chrysotile has been the most commonly used
type of asbestos. Chrysotile is often present in a wide variety of materials,
including but not limited to:
sheetrock taping
mud and texture coats
vinyl floor tiles, sheeting, adhesives and ceiling tiles
plasters and stuccos
roofing tars, felts, and shingles
"transite" panels, siding, countertops, and pipes
acoustical ceilings
fireproofing
putty
caulk
gaskets
brake pads and shoes
clutch plates
stage curtains
fire blankets
Amphibole group
Amosite and crocidolite were used in many products until the early 1980s. The
use of all types of asbestos in the amphibole group was banned in the mid-1980s.
These products were mainly:
Low density insulation board and ceiling tiles
asbestos cement sheets and pipes for construction, casing for water and
electrical/telecommunication services
thermal and chemical insulation (i.e., fire rated doors, limpet spray, lagging
and gaskets)
Removal of
Asbestos:
Many buildings contain asbestos, which was used in spray-applied flame
retardant, thermal system insulation, and in a variety of other materials.
Typically, asbestos was "flocked" above false ceilings, inside technical ducts,
and in many other small spaces where firefighters would have difficulty gaining
access. Structural components like asbestos panels were also used.
In
residences, it was often a component of a type of flocked acoustic ceiling
called "popcorn ceiling", until its production was banned in the U.S. in 1978.
However, the ban allowed installers to use up remaining stocks, so houses built
as late as 1986 could still have asbestos in their acoustic ceilings. The only
way to be sure is to remove a sample and have it tested by a competent
laboratory.
Depending on how and where asbestos was applied, it might not pose any risk to
most users of the building. If the fibers cannot dislodge themselves, they
cannot be inhaled, and thus the risk is absent.
However, with certain ways of applying asbestos, particularly flocking, asbestos
fibers may gradually drop off into the air. Furthermore, in all cases, asbestos
poses special hazards to maintenance personnel who have to drill holes in walls
for installation of cables or pipes.
Also, even if the workers are protected, such maintenance operation may release
fibers into the air, which may be inhaled by other users later. As a
consequence, interventions in areas where asbestos is present often have to
follow stringent procedures.
The removal of asbestos from a building is quite difficult because of the above
constraints. If removal is to be performed when users are still present in the
building, it is usually necessary to relocate some of them temporarily.
Typically, the part of the building from which asbestos is being removed has to
be sealed off in order to prevent contamination of the other areas.
Even if the building is closed to normal users, it is necessary to seal it off
from outside atmosphere so that no accessible air is contaminated. Accordingly,
asbestos removal projects are long and costly. Examples of long asbestos removal
enterprises include the Jussieu Campus (begun circa 1996 and still going on as
of 2005) and the Tour Montparnasse (in 2005, projected duration was 3 years if
the tower was emptied of its users, and 10 years if it was not).
An asbestos-containing building that is to be torn down may have to be sealed,
and to have its asbestos safely removed first before ordinary demolition can be
performed. The asbestos removal may take longer and cost more than the actual
tearing-down of the building.
The source of this article is
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this
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