Asbestos. Need some rational thinking please

[Emls78]

I have just discovered last night that the soffits of my house are painted asbestos! That in itself is not a problem but what’s worrying me is the fact that I have sanded down the old paint on those soffits (a few years ago) and repainted them without any proper protection. Over the last couple of years I have had pretty much constant chest and upper body pains which no cause can be found for. I’ve had chest X-rays and everything was fine. Could I have been exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos from some mild sanding? One of my biggest fears is lung cancer! Surely the chest X-rays would have shown it up? Some rational thinking much needed

[ankietyjoe]

Could I have been exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos from some mild sanding?

No, especially as it was outdoors.

Asbestos causes a problem when you're exposed long term, on a daily basis, for years. It's a bit like smoking in that respect.

[Emls78]

Thank you anxietyjoe for taking the time to reply, I’ve been trying not to google so as not to scare myself more so your words are very reassuring

[Ben1989]

To add to Joe’s comments we recently bought our first house and had a full asbestos survey as the previous owners (unfortunately) loved Artex.

When the surveyor came I asked about the dangers and he said “to be quite honest you’d have to bathe in the stuff every single day for months and months to even get a chance of getting any issues”.

You’re absolutely fine

[Emls78]

Thank you Ben. I certainly haven’t been bathing in it! Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me this it’s much appreciated

[Nighttime pacer]

Hi Emls78,
I had a massive HA issue with asbestos a while ago when I had my bathroom done up and they took up some ancient Lino tiles which I discovered may have had asbestos in them as in the past it was such a commonly used ingredient in so many building materials. I mentioned it to my asthma specialist who is the head of department at a lung and chest hospital. His reply was that I may have been subjected to slightly higher than background levels for a few days but he wasn't worried and it was people who were exposed on a daily basis for years as part of their job who had the highest chance of developing problems. There used to be loads of cases where guys worked in the navy and there was asbestos used in the insulation which was unprotected and they were around it every day. My specialist also said there are low level background levels on the tube in London. If small exposure was that big a risk we'd all have died from asbestosis by now! I know how much you're freaked, I was the same but if, and it's a very unlikely if you developed problems it would take on average 30 or more years. Please don't worry, you'll be fine.

[Emls78]

Thank you nighttime pacer. I’m so glad I didn’t google and came here for advice instead. You guys have all made me feel so much more relaxed about it, I can’t tell you how grateful I am ❤️