Asbestos is one of those things that you’ve likely heard about but you may not know much about it. Most people’s understanding of asbestos is “it’s bad,” but they tend not to go much deeper into it than that.
If this is how you’ve viewed asbestos in your life so far, you might be in danger if your house is unknowingly filled with this toxic material.
What Is Asbestos?
Before we go too much further, you should know what asbestos is. Asbestos is a naturally-occurring mineral that is made up of thin fiber crystals that can be released into the atmosphere.
Asbestos was used as a fire-resistant type of insulation which makes it great for construction… except for the fact that asbestos is toxic to humans.
Asbestos can lead to issues in your lungs and they can make it hard for your lungs to function correctly, meaning that you might find that you have trouble breathing when it comes time to figure out if you have been contaminated by asbestos particles.
If you leave this untreated, you’ll find that eventually, the tissue in your lungs will grow so stiff that it won’t be able to expand and contract normally. In layman’s terms, this means that you won’t be able to breathe anymore if you’ve been contaminated by asbestos.
Why Use as Insulation?
Unfortunately, many people used to prioritize cost and structural safety over the risks of using asbestos in construction. Even though inhaling asbestos fibers can be extremely dangerous and can impact your health, people continued to use it.
Some people, though, didn’t know there were risks involved.
Thus, if you find yourself in possession of an old house, you should check to see if there’s asbestos in the area.
This cannot be stressed enough: leaving asbestos untreated can lead to very dangerous and potentially deadly diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma (tumors caused by asbestos exposure that attack the lungs, stomach, and heart).
What to Do?
If you think that your house might be at risk from asbestos, time is of the essence! Make sure to get a professional out there to assess the situation so that you can see if you’re really at risk.
If it turns out that there is asbestos in your house, all is not yet lost. You can reach out to a professional to remove the asbestos.
Removing Asbestos
Do not try to remove asbestos on your own! One of the reasons that asbestos is so dangerous is because not only is it dangerous to humans but it can also be dangerous when it’s being removed as well!
Some extreme issues can happen when you try to remove asbestos from your home. As such, you should reach out to a professional so that you aren’t at risk of contracting anything from the asbestos as it is removed from your house.
Aftermath
Once you’ve managed to get the asbestos removed from your house – congratulations! – you will then need to replace the insulation in your house with something non-toxic.
Fortunately, the Mass Save program offers rebates 75-100% off the cost of home insulation. So you'll save on the service and then save with the new energy efficient home with lower energy bills.
Contact RidAway today to clean your home of this intruder and make it safe and healthy again.
