Immediate Asbestos Symptoms
is it the case that, short-term exposure to asbestos will not have any effects on me?
i recently asked about immediate symptoms of exposure to asbestos & the responses given lead me to ask this question. b/c i only recently became aware of floor tiles in my home that contain asbestos.
the tiles were located underneath some carpet that was recently pulled up b/c of a water flood on the floor. the tiles are sporadically broken into pieces.
water extraction took place on thursday & heaters were placed in the home. on friday (after level of asbestos was determined), fans were placed in the home to facilitate the drying process. the central heat & air conditioning was left on throughout the weekend.
floor was determined to be 100% dry on monday, & the fans were removed that day.
i experienced headaches & on tuesday, i vomitted.
i understand that my reactions (symptoms) may have been merely from dirt & dander circulating b/c the carpet was removed. just want to know if asbestos is removed (asbestos exposure was very minimal), is it possible for ANYTHING bad to result?
It depends on how “minimal” the exposure was. It depends on those tiles. You said that the tiles “the tiles are sporadically broken into pieces.” If they were in pieces under the carpet…long before the flood, then you had a lot more than minimal exposure. When tiles (or anything) containing asbestos are broken, the asbestos fiber get circulated into the air. You breathe them in and they stay in your lungs for a long time.
If you’ve been living in that house for a while (more than a month), you should talk to your doctor about your exposure. Since you don’t know for sure if any of the tiles were broken before the water damage, you should assume that they WERE.
More info:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/asbestos
Lung Cancer Comp: Mesothelioma and Asbestos Symptoms – video