Asbestos was once a widely used building material--largely due its' heat resistant characteristics. Contractors discovered it was an affordable insulator for buildings and manufacturers across several industries made use of the fire-retardant properties in asbestos.
Since that time, we have learned that asbestos is in fact a carcinogen responsible for countless cases of mesothemelia and other cancers.
Due to the dangers of asbestos it is vital to have a way to discover and safely remove asbestos from older buildings. Fortunately, as time goes on there are several ways to test for asbestos
You can usually purchase an asbestos home testing kit from most home improvement stores. However, it is also important to be aware of your state’s laws and regulations regarding asbestos testing and removal as many states require an EPA certified contractor to handle all asbestos related testing and removal.
If you are able to test the asbestos in your home yourself, there are a couple of steps to take prior to extracting your sample. The first thing you want to do is ensure that you remain safe by wearing a face mask, gloves, long sleeve shirt, pants tucked into your socks and shoe covers. You will also need two plastic Ziplock bags to store the sample in addition to a large plastic sheet to lay down around the area you will be testing. All of these items will need to be thrown out after use.
You will want to spray down your test area with a spray bottle to help reduce dust. Once you have removed your sample, be sure to double bag it.
You can then send your sample in to an EPA certified lab to find out if your sample has asbestos or not.
If your sample is positive for asbestos, you will need to contact an EPA certified contractor in order to determine what your best next steps are going to be. It is currently illegal to remove asbestos yourself due to the highly infectious manner of dust particles from asbestos.
Please check asbestos testing in Sydney for more.
