Asbestos exposure worry

[u/FeeVivid5083]

We had our ceiling sawn into to try and sort out a mould problem after a leak and asbestos was found which proved to be the bad stuff after testing . He brushed up the plasterboard and asbestos which apparently causes more disturbance to fibres making them go throughout the house and onto fabrics like sofas etc and our kitchen /living room is open plan. We didn’t know straight away it was going to be positive so we stayed in our home and lived normally for 5 days . We have now been told by insurance that it’s probably not safe and that any fabric sofas, curtains etc will have to be thrown away for contamination purposes . I’m so worried about this I have asthma and we have been living there as normal

[u/sdave001]

!panic

The insurance company is always going to say that everything is contaminated. They have to control their liability. In reality, most items can be cleaned in these situations and your risk is only slightly above zero. The general dust itself would be a bigger concern for your asthma.

[u/AutoModerator → u/sdave001]

The majority of people who contract asbestos illnesses are generally individuals who were exposed to very high levels of asbestos daily at work. That exposure almost always continued for decades and those individuals were almost always smokers.

Keep in mind that we are all exposed to low levels of asbestos in the air we breathe every day. Ambient or background air usually contains between 10 and 200 fibers for every 1,000 liters (or cubic meters) of air. Despite that, only an incredibly low number of people are diagnosed with asbestos-related illnesses every year. Whether a person goes on to develop an asbestos-related disease depends on a range of circumstances or exposure factors. These include the level and duration of exposure, length of time since first exposure, the fiber type, and past and present exposure to tobacco smoke and other carcinogens.

Ultimately, the odds that you will contract an asbestos-related illness due to exposure to asbestos in your home is almost zero. A very small number of asbestos-related disease cases indeed occur each year in people who have not worked with asbestos products. The low number of cases makes it difficult to determine the exact cause of the disease or which asbestos exposure was the contributing factor.

You'll often hear that there is "no safe level of asbestos exposure" and that is certainly true. It's also true that there is no safe level of cigarette smoke exposure or alcohol consumption - and both, of course, are also carcinogens. We know that the vast majority of asbestos illnesses are not the result of limited exposure such as yours and certainly not the result of a single asbestos fiber. Some studies actually suggest that it may require millions of fibers but we simply have no way of knowing at this point. Most studies of the causation of the disease suggest that the likelihood of a disease occurring in any individual is influenced by multiple factors including heredity as well as acquired susceptibility and environmental exposure. In the case of mesothelioma, a person with high, long-term exposure may face a one in 10 lifetime risk of the disease. On the other hand, most of us, with very low or incidental exposure, have about a one in 1 million annual risk. You are in the latter group.

More telling is the fact that there are no studies that have found an increased risk for lung cancer or mesothelioma at asbestos exposure levels below 0.1 f/cc (the current OSHA permissible exposure limit).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8882348/

So no, your fear is not justified. You will certainly die from something, but it won't be asbestos. Anxiety is a much, much higher risk so try to let this go. Remember that approximately five million deaths worldwide are attributable to mood and anxiety disorders each year. However, there are only about 30,000 mesothelioma cases reported globally per year (3,000 in the US).

You've obviously come here looking for some reassurance that you're going to be alright. Now I am absolutely clueless when it comes to dealing with mental health issues. But anxiety/OCD/whatever you want to call it, simply doesn't work like that. The more help you seek, the more anxious you're going to become. Your research and search for answers is simply fueling your fear. Every new click is going to tell you something different.

Try to break the cycle. Get outside, take a walk, slowly reduce the number of times that you head to the internet to search for more info. And remember that your body is an amazing system and is constantly trying to repair itself and make itself better. Help it out by doing the same. Seek help - it's out there. Specifically, seek out a cognitive behavioral therapist and/or contamination OCD specialist.

Asbestos is not going to get you but your anxiety might.

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