Artex ceilings, Light fittings & Asbestos

Best to start here.

www.hse.gov.uk/.../training.htm

If you are not sure, pause. Actually of all things a painted artex ceiling is a low risk even if it is pre 1984, assuming it is not all de-laminating, at least until you want to make holes in it. The problem  is that happens a lot for lights, fire alarms etc, so there is some higher risk for electrical work.

The UK HSE have some good advice for occasional hole drillers, click here .

Basically do not go in gung-ho, but some very simple techniques to trap the dust, like damping the area, drilling through a splat of shaving foam or if you do a lot, then buying the right sort of vacuum cleaner, can reduce your exposure very significantly, and painting or sealing exposed edges afterwards protects those who follow you.

There is a lot of more general advice here as well

Part of the problem is that asbestos is a bit of a lottery- any one exposure may or may not matter, and you will not know, perhaps even for decades but clearly the more often you roll the dice the greater the chances of your numbers coming up early.

But blowing the dust about and then breathing it in is not sensible

Mike

The main reason I ask is I did a few jobs when I was younger and nobody informed me of the dangers, if fact I didn’t even know Artex had asbestos until years later!

Was this common in the ninety’s?

Unfortunately the electricians I worked with were not the best!

I have been on jobs in the (distant) past where the artex has been sanded down ready for skinmming

The symptoms of mesothelioma are similar to those of lung cancer, and also similar to covid. Covid has been responsible for quite a few misdiagnosed diseases, this springs to mind Former minister James Brokenshire’s widow calls for better lung cancer care in wake of his death (msn.com) a bit off topic i know, but an important message nonetheless.

I’m currently sitting here with Covid, that’s what got me thinking!

I can remember a job I used a hole cutter to cut quite a few holes for ceiling lights in an Artex ceiling, I even did the same in my own bathroom

Was artex not considered a problem back then?

Avoid it!

In fact asbestosis (a form of fibrosis of the lungs) and cancer related cases require substantial exposure; e.g. lagging steam pipes.

Walking past asbestos lagging or tiles, etc. is perfectly safe: it's when you disturb it that you have to take precautions.

Mesothelioma is the one that you do not want because it is invariably fatal over a relatively short period. There are special arrangements for state-funded benefits and legal compensation. It may develop decades after exposure to small amounts, which is why safe asbestos disposal is so expensive.

from the mid 80s onwards things like Artex were re-formulated to essentially remove the asbestos. In the UK it was only ever white asbestos, so not the worst risk, but on the other hand there is a lot of it about, and your chance of getting some exposure at some point is quite high.

And yes -  it kills a few thousand folk year in the UK.

Mike

It’s quite troubling to think homes and schools contain Asbestos!

https://electrical.theiet.org/wiring-matters/years/2020/81-july-2020/asbestos-guidance-for-electricians/

There is a lot of scaremongering around nowadays with asbestos, rightly so. Putting it into persective though, if left undisturbed as garage roofing sheets or insulation sheets etc., it's safe enough. The problem arises when it is drilled, machined or damaged so producing airborne fluffy particles that are breathed in; it seems to quickly contaminate and remains clinging on to the lungs.

In the steel industry many moons ago, we used to get sheets of the stuff and place the lit, paraffin blowlamp against it for personal protection; if left too long, it would spall in layers with explosive results, as appies we would play around in this way. The house next door has a garage roof with corrogated asbestos sheeting, I am keeping watch in case it's removed, it needs expensive removal by specialists.

I had a smart meter fitted recently and the fitter reported that the gas meter was resting on a small asbestos sheet, I looked at it and pulled it out since it was thick hardboard, I demonstrated this by setting fire to it, outside of course. The fitter was still adamant that it was asbestos - a ruse for more money in removal for the bhoys?.

Jaymack