Asbestos is a material that was once used in virtually every building constructed for governmental, commercial or residential use in many countries prior to being phased out in the 1970s and 1980s. It had applications in everything from protecting electrical wiring to providing home insulation, too. Once seen as a miracle product, it later came to be understood that microscopic asbestos fibers could go airborne, get lodged in people's lungs and cause a range of breathing disorders and cancers.

Making the problem especially insidious is the fact that during its peak usage, asbestos was often mixed in with other materials, particularly concrete, steel and interior columns of multistory structures. This was due to its high level of quality as a fireproofing material. It was also mixed into patching compounds and even utilized in some paints. Asbestos testing has, consequently, become important because of how ubiquitous the product once was and how dangerous we now know it to be.

Do Not Disturb

The capacity of asbestos fibers to end up in the air makes it essential to remove or mitigate it when it's present in a building. If a demolition or remodeling crew comes into a structure and begins to tear down anything, there's a risk that asbestos products that were used in the original construction may become airborne. The simplest of tasks, such as putting a sledgehammer through a wall, can release it.

There are also toxicological concerns about naturally occurring presence in some regions. Such materials are embedded in rocks and can be released when construction occurs on a property. Some regions of Canada, particularly in Quebec, are actually among the places where asbestos had been mined for the longest time in human history, stretching from the late 19th Century into the early 21st Century. If you live in an area where the material is known to naturally occur, you may want to conduct asbestos testing prior to starting excavation.

Spotting Asbestos

Most of the asbestos that has ever been mined in the world is the white version, although some types may have been dyed different colors, usually pink or blue. When it is found in buildings, it often looks like cotton that was wrapped around pipes or staples on the insides of walls. If you identify what you think is asbestos, don't touch it. Contact an asbestos testing company, like GREEN CLOVER ASBESTOS, to learn whether there might be a real problem.