Healthy is SEXY read for some health Hazards in ASBESTOS

Where is asbestos found?Building materials containing asbestos were widely used from 1930 to around 1980,particularly from the 1960s onwards. So houses and flats built or refurbished at this time maycontain asbestos materials.Asbestos has also been used in some heat-resistant household products, such as ovengloves and ironing boards.

The use of asbestos in these products decreased greatly aroundthe mid-1980s, and since 1993 the use of asbestos in most products has been banned.It is not always easy to tell whether a product contains asbestos as modern asbestos-freematerials often look similar - remember it is usually older products that contain asbestos.

Loft or cavity wall insulation does not contain asbestos.The types of asbestos materials that may be found in homes are described below:• Insulating board(Asbestos content 20-45 percent.)Insulating board has been used for fire protection, heat and sound insulation. It isparticularly common in 1960s and 1970s system-built housing and is found inmaterials such as ducts, infill panels, ceiling tiles, wall lining, bath panels andpartitions. It is unlikely to be found in buildings constructed after 1982.•

Asbestos lagging(Asbestos content 55-100 percent.)

Asbestos lagging has been used for thermal insulation of pipes and boilers. It waswidely used in public buildings and system-built flats during the 1960s to early 1970sin areas such as boiler houses and heating plants.

Asbestos lagging is very rarely found in homes, especially those constructed after themid 1970s. The use of asbestos for thermal insulation was banned in 1986.

• Sprayed coating(Asbestos content up to 85 percent.)Sprayed asbestos coatings were used for fire protection of structural steel and arecommonly found in system-built flats built during the 1960s.

The coatings were mainlyapplied around the core of the building such as service ducts, lift shafts, etc.Use stopped in 1974 and the spraying of asbestos has been prohibited since 1986.Sprayed asbestos has since been removed from many buildings, or sealed to preventfibres being released.

• Asbestos-cement products(Asbestos content mainly 10-15 percent, but sometimes up to 40 percent.)Asbestos-cement is the most widely used asbestos material. It is found in many typesof building as profiled sheets for roofing and wall-cladding, in flat sheets and partitionboards for linings to walls and ceilings, in bath panels, soffit boards, fire surrounds,flue pipes, cold water tanks and as roofing tiles and slates. It has been commonlyused as roofing and cladding for garages and sheds and also in guttering anddrainpipes.Use has declined since 1976, but asbestos cement is still being used, particularly inroofing and cladding products.

Asbestos cement products are unlikely to release highlevels of fibres because of the way they are made, unless they are subject to extremeabrasion. Damage from weathering may also release a small amount of fibres.

• Other building materials and productsAsbestos has been used in a variety of other building materials, for example indecorative coatings such as textured paints and plasters. These are still widely inplace but supply and application has been prohibited since 1988. Plastic floor tiles,cushion flooring, roofing felts, tapes, ropes, felts and blankets can also containasbestos.

• Heating appliances and domestic equipmentAsbestos was used in some warm air heating systems, electric storage heaters (up to1976), in flameless catalytic gas heaters (up to 1988) and some early ‘coal effect’ gasfires.It has also been used in domestic equipment, such as oven gloves, ironing boards,seals on cooker doors and fire blankets, and in brake linings and pads.How can I identify products or materials containing asbestos?Since 1976 British manufacturers have put labels on their products to show they containasbestos, and since 1986 all products containing asbestos carry the European label.

The supplier or manufacturer of a product may be able to tell you if it contains asbestos.Often homes built at the same time contain similar materials - your neighbours may know ifsurveys for asbestos have been done.Your local council’s Environmental Health Department may be able to help identify if you haveasbestos products in your home, or if homes in your area have been surveyed.Remember, asbestos-containing products can look very similar to those not containingasbestos - if in doubt SEEK ADVICE.